One Direction Zayn Malik, Matt Lauer Feud: "Steal My Girl" Singer Says He's "Really Angry And Upset" At 'Today Show' Host!

One Direction have been around the world promoting their new album Four, but their recent appearance on The Today Show made news due to member Zayn Malik being absent from the interview and performance.

The appearance took place at Universal Studios in Orlando, FL in front of hundreds of screaming fans, but host Matt Lauer had to ask the obvious questions.

"Where is Zayn?" he asked.

"He's got a tummy bug so he's not very well at the moment so he couldn't make it over," bandmate Liam Payne answered.

This wasn't enough of an answer for the NBC morning show host so he prodded on, "There's obviously a lot of concern, a lot of fans have been tweeting overnight. There's been a lot of action on social media about him. Is it something more serious than just a minor illness? There have been rumors of substance abuse. What's going on?"

"No, he's just got a stomach bug. He's okay. He's just at home. He just needs to rest. He's okay," Liam replied, while he and his other One Directioners were surprised by the insinuation.

In his own defense, Zayn gave an interview with UK's The Sun, where he addressed Matt's line of questioning and his implication that he was on drugs and couldn't make it to the show.

"I'm really angry and upset by what was said on The Today Show," he told the paper. "I was really ill at the weekend, that's why I couldn't fly to America."

"I was gutted to have to miss album release day, but I'm going to be back as soon as I can," he continued. "As soon as I'm feeling better I'm going to join the guys and carry on with the promotion for the album."

Do you believe Zayn that he was too sick to make it to the appearance or was there something else going on?

Watch The Today Show interview here:

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