The Real Reasons Zayn Malik And Gigi Hadid Broke Up
Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik split after more than two years together in March 2018 — and they each released their own statement about the breakup.
"Gigi and I had an incredibly meaningful, loving and fun relationship and I have a huge amount of respect and adoration for Gigi as a woman and a friend," Malik tweeted shortly after news of the separation hit the press. "She has such an incredible soul. I'm grateful to all of our fans for respecting this difficult decision and our privacy at this time, we wish this news could have come from us first."
Hadid wrote, "Breakup statements often seem impersonal because there is really no way to put into words what two people experience over a few years ... not only in the relationship, but in life in general. I'm forever grateful for the love, time, and life lessons that Z and I shared. I want nothing but the best for him and will continue to support him as a friend that I have immense respect and love for. As for the future, whatever's meant to be will be."
Sure. Now, what really happened?
They're too busy
Hadid is one of the biggest supermodels on the planet and Malik has a burgeoning solo music career after being in one of the biggest boy bands ever, so it's safe to assume that the couple's busy schedules were part of the reason their relationship ended.
"This is definitely the end for now, but this isn't a bitter split and they both have respect for each other," a source told The Sun. "It's a mutual decision so no one has completely ruled out a reunion in the future, but for now that's not where their heads are at ... The reality is that they've grown apart, having been together for a long time. They have crazy work schedules that would put a strain on any relationship."
That strain may have felt a little one-sided. Malik told Billboard that he relied on Hadid to coordinate both of their schedules because he's basically a manchild who couldn't be bothered to keep up with his own engagements. "[We] pretty much live together," he said, noting that they each have pads in London, Los Angeles, and the Big Apple. "It's actually not that hard for us [to line up schedules]. It helps that she's really organized. Thank God! Because I'm really not, so she helps organize my schedule around seeing her."
They mixed business with pleasure a bit too much
Though their work schedules may have created a lot of long-distance dynamics, these two also did a lot of work together, which may have prompted the need for some space and time away from one another.
Case in point: almost immediately after going public as a couple in January 2016, Hadid co-starred in Malik's PDA-packed "Pillowtalk" music video.
In March 2017, Hadid went behind the camera and photographed Malik for Versace's Versus campaign, reported W Magazine, which essentially planted the singer smack dab into her world of fashion modeling.
While that seems great, just months later, in July 2017, Hadid and Malik's joint Vogue cover sparked a slew of backlash, because the cisgender, heterosexual pair was used to promote the magazine's Gender Fluidity issue. Making matters worse, their quotes were a bit vapid. "I like that shirt. And if it's tight on me, so what? It doesn't matter if it was made for a girl," Malik opined, while Hadid quipped, "Totally. It's not about gender. It's about, like, shapes. And what feels good on you that day. And anyway, it's fun to experiment."
She was more successful than he was
Malik has struggled to replicate the success of "Pillowtalk." Insiders claim there was some tension when he was urged to work with Hadid's BFF, Taylor Swift, on "I Don't Wanna Live Forever" for the Fifty Shades Darker soundtrack.
"Zayn loved the song and wanted it for himself; he was desperate to record it as a solo track and thought it would be a real career boost," a source told Radar Online. "It has all of the high notes he can reach and was perfect, but movie bosses said it had to be a collaboration and wanted him to work with Taylor. It was a surprise to everyone. It's not as if they're really great friends and they didn't even appear in scenes together for the video ... The song was a hit with movie fans, but it wasn't massively well received by Taylor or Zayn's hardcore fan bases."
The insider also claimed Saturday Night Live rejected offers from Malik's team to have him on the show to perform his hits. Perhaps the sketch comedy show was hesitant to book him because he canceled a slew of scheduled performances in 2016 due to his struggles with anxiety.
Meanwhile, Hadid's star power continues to rise with Maybelline and Tommy Hilfiger contracts galore.
They had a faulty foundation
Hadid and Malik may have hooked up while they were each still with respective exes Joe Jonas and Perrie Edwards.
Jonas and Hadid split in November 2015. When asked about her quick leap from one boy band star to another, Jonas told The Mirror, "I think it's interesting that she moved on so quickly. I mean, it was definitely very quick."
According The Sun, Malik allegedly dumped Little Mix singer Edwards, to whom he was engaged, by text! "It was horrible, the worst time in my life," she said (via Us Weekly). "A four-year relationship, two-year engagement ended by a simple text message. Just like that. Even though things in my career were going really well, it was incredibly difficult for me."
Malik denied those allegations in a later interview, telling The Fader, "I have more respect for Perrie than to end anything over text message. I love her a lot, and I always will, and I would never end our relationship over four years like that. She knows that, I know that, and the public should know that as well. I don't want to explain why or what I did. I just want the public to know I didn't do that."
As for when and how they met, Hadid revealed on Ellen that she met Malik at a friend's birthday party, then he asked her out on a date when he saw her in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show ... which is filmed in November. You do the math.
They were on-again-off-again
This wasn't Malik and Hadid's first breakup rodeo. The couple reportedly broke up previously in June 2016. A source told TMZ at the time, "The fact that Gigi never introduced Zayn to her parents is very telling."
Another insider dished to E! News at the time, "During her birthday they were fighting ... [they had] broken up and got back together a few times." A second source said, "Zayn and Gigi did break up, but they can likely get back together tomorrow. It's all very unclear what's going on between them now. They been having some issues lately that involved communication and getting along ... Gigi is really sad about this, though, and in a way would like to work it out. It's more about that constant contact with Zayn that she misses and they did get very close."
The couple reunited rather quickly after the aforementioned split, but perhaps they should have taken it as a warning of things to come.
Sources claim she didn't trust him
Sources claim that Hadid and Malik's previous, short-lived breakup was due to the fact that she simply didn't trust the Bradford bad boy.
After their 2016 break, a source told People, "They have been working on their communication and being honest with each other ... They were fighting all the time and Gigi caught Zayn in a handful of lies and couldn't take the mystery anymore, so she dumped him."
The former One Direction crooner "kept incessantly apologizing and wanted another chance," the insider claimed. "Gigi gave it to him, and now he's determined to prove himself to her. Everything's good at the moment, but things could change overnight. Zayn is really going to need to continue to prove himself to her. Otherwise, she may not stick around."
Were they too attached?
Malik and Hadid essentially moved in together after dating for less than a year. Malik told The London Evening Standard in November 2016 (via People), "We haven't officially swapped keys or anything yet. We live together wherever we are."
In addition to working together, the couple also spent a lot of off time attached at the hip. Hadid told People, "For the first time, we are both in a relationship where we have very similar interests outside of work, and that is really important. We both feel we can talk about anything and learn a lot from one another."
Malik previously told Complex that he tried to separate his work and personal life, despite the constant overlap between the two. "I try to keep the two [my job and my relationship] very separate ... as much as I can," he said. "But there's only so much you can do. I'm learning to deal with it. It's just one of those things now, in the background."
That constant togetherness may have proved the old adage that "familiarity breeds contempt."
He doomed the romance with his body art
If there was ever a kiss of death for a relationship, it would be a tattoo. Malik previously had ex-fiancée Perrie Edwards' pretty mug inked on his arm, which he was forced to cover up after he unceremoniously dumped her for Hadid.
Edwards wasn't his only short-lived relationship that was immortalized in ink (at least until it was covered over.) Malik also had a 1D tattoo in tribute to his time in One Direction, and look at how that turned out. And yet, he still didn't learn his lesson.
In January 2018, TMZ reported that Malik inked Hadid's signature feature on his chest — her beautifully distinctive, wide-set, semi-hooded, green eyes. It's unclear if he'll have an artist or a laser eliminate this particular piece of body art, but hopefully for Malik, the third time's the charm in terms of tattoo tributes to others. The dude is running out of real estate.
Their families may be beefing
Despite Malik and Hadid's insistence that they still love one another, their breakup may not be entirely as mutual and respectful as they want the world to believe.
E! News reported that Malik immediately unfollowed Hadid and her mother, Yolanda, on social media. Yolanda and Malik had previously gushed about one another and he often spent time on Yolanda's farm in Pennsylvania.
Soon after her daughter's breakup news hit the press, Yolanda wrote on Instagram (via the Daily Mail), "The only way that we can live is if we grow. The only way that we can grow is if we change. The only way that we can change is if we learn. The only way we can learn is if we are exposed. And the only way we can become exposed is if we throw ourselves out into the open." It's unclear if the cryptic message was directed at her daughter's ex-boyfriend, but the timing was uncanny.
Meanwhile, Malik's sister also took to Instagram (via The Sun) with this curious message: "Horrible people get nowhere." She accompanied the post with a text graphic that read, "Don't get mad. Don't get even. Do better. Much better. Become so engulfed in your own success & happiness that you forget it ever happened." Interesting.
He has a history of rumored infidelity
Though Malik and Hadid allegedly hit it off while they were both dating other people, it would not have been the first time the "Like I Would" singer was accused of cheating. In fact, during his relationship with and engagement to Perrie Edwards, he was often accused of philandering.
In March 2015, a Swedish model named Martina Olsson told The Sun (via the Mirror) that she slept with Malik twice while One Direction toured Thailand — and while he was still engaged to Edwards. Olsson reportedly dished that he took her to the band's rental for some action, adding, "He didn't mention anything to me about having a fiancée. He was really flirtatious." She said that the next time she saw Malik, he had his arms around another girl who wasn't Edwards.
That girl was British tourist Lauren Richardson, and according to the Mirror, fans tweeted photos of Malik and Richardson holding hands. Malik slammed the allegations, tweeting, "I'm 22 years old. I love a girl named Perrie Edwards. And there's a lot of jealous f***s in this world. I'm sorry for what it looks like."
However, in March 2016, Malik seemed to admit to prior infidelity in his song "She Don't Love Me," singing, "I think I know she don't love me / That's why I f**k around."
He got a nasty shout-out from his ex
Perrie Edwards and Gigi Hadid may have more in common than just a man.
When fans noticed that Edwards wore an outfit to a race track that was very similar to one worn hours earlier by Hadid on a runway, social media blew up with comparisons of the two bombshells, reported The Sun. Coincidence? Who knows, but that didn't stop the tabloids from stirring up trouble.
Meanwhile, the Daily Mail reported that Hadid and Edwards allegedly beefed over the lyrics to Little Mix's underrated hit "Shout Out To My Ex," which is rumored to be about Edwards and Malik's split. In an original demo of the track, Edwards sings, "Heard he been f*****g some model chick / Yeah that s**t hurt I'll admit / But f**k that boy I'm over it." The final version that was released features the lyrics "Heard he in love with some other chick / Yeah yeah, that hurt me, I'll admit."
A source claimed the lyrical change was at Hadid's insistence, telling the Daily Mail, "Gigi wishes Perrie would just move on and leave her and Zayn alone. She thinks the song and the lyrics are immature ... [Malik has] been down-playing it to Gigi, and telling her not to give it any energy or thought, and that it just comes from a place of jealousy."
Edwards told News.au (via the Daily Mail) that the change was made for a simpler reason. "We had to make it clean. We didn't want to have the parental advisory sticker on our albums and singles. Even though our fans are our age, 20 or over 18, we still have a lot of young fans. But it does feel good to swear, doesn't it?"