On Mar. 25, 2015, Zayn Malik left One Direction. After four successful albums, screaming fans, and making money for his mom—or, as I should say, mum— and sisters, he dipped. Consequently, only five months later, it was announced that the band would be going on a “hiatus.” In an interview with the then four-member boy (man) band, Louis Tomlinson stated, “Let’s give it 18 months.” Directioners ticked off the days and counted down the seconds until those 18 months were over, but once they reached the year-and-a-half mark—nothing. Give it a few more days, nope. Maybe a couple more weeks? Radio silence. 18 months had come and gone, yet the band had not reunited as Tomlinson promised in a Tweet that said “Promise”, with a smiling emoji that Directioners know all too well. Now, fans continue to gaslight themselves into believing that the 18 months just have not been completed and that One Direction will return. Maybe One Direction does not know math, as Directioners have seen in an interview video that took place on a rollercoaster in which Louis Tomlinson claims, “36 plus another six, that equals 38!” It does not matter that they have cumulatively released 13 solo albums over the past decade. Then, just to make fans absolutely lose their minds, One Direction’s 10th anniversary happened in 2020.

On Oct. 16, 2024, Liam Payne tragically passed after falling from his hotel balcony in Argentina. He was there earlier in the month to see his former bandmate, Niall Horan, in concert. They took a picture together after The Show (which was the name of Horan’s album as well as his international tour) and Payne posted it to his social media stories. Fans went wild thinking this, once again, meant a reunion. This hope was crushed when news broke out that Payne had fallen from his hotel room’s balcony in what is rumored to be an attempt to escape from being locked in the room. During his One Direction days, Simon Cowell would often lock the band in their hotel rooms, to which Payne would often try to escape. The fact that his bag had been tossed to the balcony below his before he jumped suggests that he was trying to escape. Sadly, being under the influence of multiple substances, he fell to the ground. Millions of fans have been grieving his loss, but some have decided to take a more insensitive route in their mourning process: they believe that the living members of One Direction will come together for a tribute tour honoring Liam Payne. Surely, in times of loss and grieving, fans could take a moment and see how their behavior contributed to said death in the first place, but no. They only have one thing on their mind: concerts. Along with begging for a reunion from four men who have lost their brother, fans have been specifically targeting Harry Styles. After his successful tour in 2021-2023, a tour which sold out Madison Square Garden 15 consecutive nights in a row, Styles decided to take a break. Despite seeing him in a depressed state at Payne’s funeral, fans have been upset with him for not releasing an album. Give the man a chance to grieve!