Zayn Malik opened up about the 'politics' of his former boy band and revealed that his priority right now is his daughter, Khai to Alex Cooper on the 'Call Her Daddy' podcast.
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00:00 Zayn Malik went on the Call Her Daddy podcast for his first interview in six years and opened
00:04 up about a lot from co-parenting with Gigi Hadid to his dispute with Yolanda Hadid and
00:10 the end of One Direction.
00:11 To start, he addressed leaving 1D to launch his solo career in 2015.
00:16 He told Alex Cooper, "There was a lot of politics going on.
00:19 People were doing certain things, people didn't want to sign contracts.
00:22 So I knew something was happening.
00:23 So I just got ahead of the curve.
00:24 I was like, 'I'm just going to get out of here.
00:27 I think this is done.'"
00:28 Zayn continued, "I completely, selfishly wanted to be the first person to make my own record.
00:33 I'm a passive dude, but when it comes to my music and my business, I'm serious about it
00:38 and I'm competitive.
00:39 So I wanted to be the first to go and do my own thing.
00:42 That was the reason."
00:43 He also admitted that there were some underlying issues between the bandmates, adding that
00:49 they did get sick of each other after being together literally every day for five years.
00:54 In the end, Zayn said, "We just ran our course."
00:56 Later, Zayn spoke for the first time about his October 2021 dispute with Yolanda Hadid.
01:02 Per court documents, Yolanda alleged that Zayn caused her "mental anguish and physical
01:07 pain" after shoving her and shouting at her while fighting over something having to do
01:11 with his and Gigi Hadid's daughter, Kai.
01:14 At the time, Zayn pleaded no contest to the charges and was put on a 90-day probation
01:18 for each of his four counts and was also ordered to complete anger management classes and a
01:23 domestic violence program.
01:24 At the time, he denied Yolanda's claims repeatedly and also asked that the situation be held
01:29 in a private manner to restore a peaceful family environment.
01:33 The situation also led to Zayn and Gigi splitting in the midst of the drama.
01:37 Well, the singer opened up about the altercation while on call her daddy, telling host, "I
01:41 believe I dealt with it in the best way, like in an amicable and respectful way, and that's
01:46 all that needs to be said."
01:47 He added, "I knew what the situation was.
01:50 I knew what happened and the people involved knew what happened too, and that's all I really
01:54 cared about.
01:55 I believe you could respect that I just didn't want to bring attention to anything.
02:00 I just wasn't trying to get into a negative back and forth with her or any sort of narrative
02:06 online where my daughter was going to look back and read that."
02:10 Zayn explained that he doesn't tend to get involved when people say things online for
02:13 the sake of his daughter, noting, "For me, my most valuable thing that I have in life
02:18 is time, and that takes so much time in a toxic environment to explain yourself to people
02:23 and justify this.
02:24 I just kind of keep to myself."
02:26 In the end, Zayn said that he shares equal custody with Gigi and they have a good co-parenting