Zayn Malik praised for calling out ‘isolating’ racism he experienced in One Direction

Zayn Malik has called out racism he faced during One Direction years (Picture: Edward Berthelot/Getty Images)
It’s almost been 15 years since One Direction formed, and Zayn Malik has taken shots at the racism he faced at the boy band’s dizzying heights.

Zayn’s complex history with the band is no secret but his new song Fuchsia Sea points at a wider struggle with fame as the only non-white band member.

On March 25, 2015, the Night Changes hitmaker announced he was exiting One Direction for good, devastating the millions of fans and shocking his bandmates.

In the decade since, the now 32-year-old singer has seemingly softened on his feelings towards the band — even opening his sold-out arena show with a 1D song.

However, his new song brings that complicated history back to the surface as he raps about being ‘laughed at’ as ‘the Asian’.

Zayn was the only non-white member of the boy band, which included Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, Harry Styles and the late Liam Payne.

Zayn was the only non-white member of One Direction (Picture: Hugh Thompson/REX/Shutterstock)

In his new track, which he teased was ‘coming soon’ on Instagram, Zayn rapped: ‘Got my back against the wall so much they think I got a brick fascination / Do you remember every conversation? ‘Cause I have been conscious of every connotation.

‘And while they concentrate on their elevation, I’ve got a round trip to the constellation / I’m a convert to the concert, and I did that for inflation, ’cause I worked hard in a White band, and they still laughed at the Asian.’

He later shared a full verse on his story, which referenced his family and how they ‘dreamed hard’ for a better life in the UK.

Fans quickly shared their support for Zayn on social media, recalling incidents of racist attacks on the Kiss You hitmaker.

On X, heartweirdo wrote: ‘Zayn was literally branded a ter*orist at 17. He twted a simple Arabic prayer & got called a jihadi. He posted “Eid Mubarak” & white fans told him to stop pushing Islam.

One Direction split in 2015 after ‘growing apart’ (Picture: Ken McKay/Talkback Thames/REX/Shutterstock)

Zayn’s never publicly spoken about the racism he faced (Picture: Noam Galai/Getty Images)
‘He was constantly exoticised only praised when he looked “less brown,” mocked when he looked “too Muslim.”‘

90sbrutalia added: ‘I’m soo proud of zayn for publicly acknowledging the racism/islamophobia he’s faced, specifically from what must’ve been an extremely isolating experience as the ONLY poc in a white band.

‘The amount of ppl acting clueless and asking what brought this on as if zayn wasn’t barraged with hundreds of disgusting islamophobic comments over a goddamn selfie last month.’

Katneptune_ said: ‘Zayn’s always been proud and vocal about his background, even back then, but this feels like the first time he’s explicitly and publicly acknowledged being the only poc in the band & how differently he was treated bc of it. even when interviewers asked uncomfortable or racially.’

Since his One Direction exit, Zayn has focused on his personal life and largely stayed out of the spotlight except for big announcements.

Zayn has returned to music after the shock death of Liam Payne (Picture: Andrew Benge/Getty Images for ABA)
At the time of his exit, he said he wanted to ‘relax’ and live the life of a normal 22-year-old but has since confessed that this wasn’t the whole truth.

On the Call Her Daddy podcast in 2023, he revealed that the band were just ‘sick’ of each other at that point, and he decided to get out first.

However, over the years, Zayn’s feelings towards the group have softened, especially after the shock death of Payne last year.

The Pillowtalk singer posted an emotional tribute to his former bandmate, acknowledging their differences but saying he would miss him.

Then, months later, Zayn sang Night Changes on tour, which originally charted in the UK Top 10 but became particularly poignant after Payne’s death and re-entered the charts at number six last year.