Entertainment
Singer slams Simon Cowell for inviting him to audition for new ‘One Direction-style’ boyband-Emily Bashforth-Entertainment – Metro
He had some stern words for Simon.
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One singer had a truly brutal response when approached to be part of Simon Cowell’s next boyband.
Last month, X Factor boss Simon announced that, after the global success of One Direction, he was on the hunt for the next big boyband to follow in the footsteps of Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, and Liam Payne.
Simon announced his new business venture by taking to the streets of London with some clever marketing, posing in front of an enormous sign reading: ‘Simon needs you! Future megastars wanted for new boyband. No time wasters.’
Carrying a brush and bucket of poster paste, the Britain’s Got Talent judge attracted a crowd, claiming he was taking action once more because, since 1D, there ‘hasn’t been a successful boyband.’
However, the search seems to have got off to a bit of a messy start.
Approached by Simon’s team, Fin shared the Instagram DMs with his fans – yes, fans… as he’s already part of a group.
Simon Cowell is hunting for the next big boyband (Picture: Jeff Spicer/WireImage)
The member of Stone, whose debut album is released in July, was less than impressed and he wanted the person who contacted him to know that.
Taking to TikTok, he said: ‘I got this message from someone on behalf of Simon Cowell.’
Filming his phone screen to show the message was legitimate, he read it out.
The DM began: ‘Hello, Fin. I’m contacting you on behalf of Simon Cowell! We are working with him to scout singers around the age of 16-18 years old for a new boyband, which is being filmed as part of a potential televised documentary following him on his search.’
It continued: ‘The company following Simon Cowell is BTBSC Series Ltd, trading as Box-to-Box Films. I’d like to provide you with further information about how you would like to audition for this, if you are interested.’
The message ended by assuring the recipient their information would be handled ‘confidentially’.
He formed One Direction in 2010 on The X Factor (Picture: WireImage)
The group went on to achieve crazy worldwide fame (Picture: Shutterstock / Tinseltown)
While Simon has no time for ‘time wasters’, Fin has no time for him either, as he sent a very stern reply back.
‘Tell Simon Cowell to go f**k himself. Team 1D,’ he wrote, showing the camera as proof.
Fin then walked out of shot, stating that he had nothing else to say to the music mogul or his people.
The Scouse musician was met with heaps of support and praise in the comments, with TikTok user nettyhenshaw writing: ‘anybody with sense wouldn’t go anywhere near simon cowell.’
User izzzzavibe praised: ‘you are SO REAL for that😭 also good for you’.
‘I absolutely love this, Couldn’t agree more!! Team 1D always 🫶’, echoed sarahlou207.
Fans have long accused Simon of ‘exploiting’ 1D (Picture: Shutterstock / Tinseltown)
Indeed, Simon isn’t exactly a hero in the eyes of 1D fans, despite having been there from the start when they were formed on The X Factor in 2010 before achieving unprecedented stardom.
In the past, Simon and co. have been accused of mismanaging the boyband, who were all teenagers when they were catapulted into the crazy world of showbusiness.
As a result, the likes of Liam has said he struggled with addiction and depression in the aftermath of 1D, who went on indefinite hiatus in 2015, later pursuing solo careers.
Zayn, who is the only member to have officially left the group in March that year, has also spoken about an eating disorder, while Louis has been vocal about losing contact with Simon in recent years.
Most recently, Simon faced backlash for comments he made about One Direction and his biggest regret.
Stone member Fin was contacted on behalf of Simon (Picture: Instagram)
During an episode of The Diary of a CEO podcast, Simon reflected on his greatest career achievements and told host Steven Bartlett that he regretted not owning the band’s name.
‘The one thing I regret is, I should have kept the name,’ the manager admitted.
He then explained that the What Makes You Beautiful singers have the rights to the name.
‘That’s the problem,’ the entrepreneur continued. ‘Could have made an animation, or whatever, but when you give an artist the name, it’s not yours – and that’s my only regret.’
He then jokingly addressed the singers: ‘If you’re listening, I’ll buy it back from you.’
Livid at his remarks, 1D fans took to social media, ripping into Simon for ‘exploiting’ the members.
Alas, it doesn’t appear his boyband search is gaining much momentum and, well, K-pop fanatics certainly don’t care for it, having immediately slammed Simon for ignoring Korean acts, like BTS, and their worldwide fame.
Oh dear…
Reps for Simon Cowell have been contacted for comment.
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