Zayn Malik is apparently furious over allegations made on live TV yesterday that he is having substance abuse issues. His One Direction bandmates are apparently furious that they were ambushed on air about it. And One Direction fans are furious at host Matt Lauer for going rogue and attacking their precious puppyprince OUT OF THE BLUE. I’m not buying any of it, and here’s why.
Nope. Not Buying it. Not buying the fact that One Direction was blindsided by Mat Lauer’s question. Not buying the fact that it wasn’t completely scripted and rehearsed.
Matt Lauer works for the Today Show, which is NBC/Universal. One Direction are a Sony band. One Direction has a huuuuuge Christmas concert on NBC next month, one of the cornerstones of the network’s holiday programming, so obviously Sony and NBC are in constant contact over the escalating rumors concerning Zayn.
Whether he was actually dealing with food poisoning or was high as a kite, the fact remains that Zayn didn’t make it to the album rollout or the events in the promotional blitz. The rumors needed to be addressed. It was a matter of business. It was a matter of maintaing control of the brand that’s being marketed by NBC/Universal and Sony Music. The label and the network needed to be on the same page, and it’s naive to think it wasn’t a high-level decision to have Matt ask the question and let the band do damage control.
The proof: After asking the question, and as they went to commercial break, Matt can clearly be seen mouthing “Good job, Liam”
(Photo: Pacific Coast News)
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