After upsetting a wave of One Direction fans with recent comments he made about the group, Simon Cowell has said one member of the band recently reached out to him – and probably not for the reasons you might be thinking.
Last month, the former X Factor judge made an appearance on Stephen Bartlett’s Diary Of A CEO podcast, where he revealed his “only regret” about his time working with One Direction was that he “should have kept the name” so he could have kept the brand going even after the group went on hiatus.
“When you give an artist the name, it’s not yours,” he lamented, later adding: “If one of the band members, for whatever reason, says they don’t want to tour, it can stop the others touring.
“So if it was me who owned the name, it wouldn’t be a problem.”
While Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan both appeared to have both unfollowed the TV mogul after his comments were heavily criticised by fans, Simon has since claimed that Harry Styles gave him a ring.
“It was great to hear from him,” Simon told Hello! magazine (via the Daily Mail), suggesting the As It Was singer “said listening to the podcast reminded him of what a great a time we had together”.
Harry Styles’ representatives had no comment when contacted by HuffPost UK.
Simon initially mentored the boyband during their time on the ITV talent show in 2010, and went on to sign them to his now-defunct record label after they finished in third place.
After the group went on hiatus, notably only Louis remained with Simon’s label when the singers began their respective solo careers.