Zayn Malik and Gigi Hadid, who stock 2-year-old girl Khai, broke up successful precocious 2021 amid reports he'd gotten into an argument with her ma Yolanda Hadid at the Pennsylvania location helium shared with the model. According to a constabulary study obtained by E! News that year, Zayn was accused of acting with "intent to harass, annoy oregon alarm" Gigi (who was not present) and Yolanda, portion allegedly communicating "lewd, lascivious, threatening oregon obscene words." At the time, Zayn denied the accusations and issued a statement, saying successful portion that helium remained "vigilant" successful protecting their girl by giving her "the privateness she deserves."

Nearly 2 years later, the vocalist stands by his statement.

"I knew what the concern was, I knew what happened and the radical progressive knew what happened too," helium told Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper. "And that's each I truly cared about. If anybody of the aforesaid caput would look astatine the situation, I judge that you could respect that I conscionable didn't privation to bring attraction to anything. I conscionable wasn't trying to get into a antagonistic backmost and distant with her—any benignant of communicative online wherever my girl was going to look backmost and beryllium capable to work into it and it would conscionable beryllium something, determination was nary point."

As Zayn explained, helium believes helium dealt with the concern "in an amicable, respectful way."

"And that's each that needs to beryllium said," helium continued. "I conscionable I consciousness similar it's a batch of negativity."

The One Direction alum also discussed connected the value of keeping idiosyncratic issues private. "If thing happens successful the family, similar I'd alternatively support that betwixt the family," helium shared. "You don't request a full assemblage of radical and opinions due to the fact that it's hard capable to negociate betwixt two."

As for his co-parenting narration with his ex, Zayn noted that helium and Gigi person a "really good" bond, confirming that helium has 50 percent custody.

"I'm ace afloat on, hands connected with my kid each accidental I tin be," helium explained. "If I could get 60 percent, I would person it."

When Zayn left One Direction successful 2015, helium felt it was simply clip for a alteration successful direction.

"There was a batch of—look I don't privation to spell into excessively overmuch detail, but determination was a batch of authorities going on," helium said of the group, featuring Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson. "Certain radical were doing definite things, definite radical didn't privation to motion contracts, truthful I knew thing was happening, truthful I conscionable got up of the curve. I was like, ‘I'm conscionable going to get retired of here. I deliberation this is done.'...I wholly selfishly wanted to beryllium the archetypal idiosyncratic to spell and marque my ain record, if I'm being wholly honorable with you. I was like, 'I'm going to leap the weapon present for the archetypal time.'"

Noting that helium usually thinks of himself arsenic a "passive dude," Zayn admitted helium takes a antithetic attack erstwhile it comes to music.

"I'm superior astir it and I'm competitive, truthful I wanted to beryllium the archetypal to spell and bash my ain thing," helium continued. "That was the reason—and past determination was evidently underlying issues, similar wrong our friendships too."

Zayn's caller interrogation marks his archetypal large sit-down successful six years, and arsenic the "Flames" performer revealed, his measurement backmost was a much-need interruption aft being portion of specified a well-known group.

For Zayn, a quiescent spot to telephone location is what makes beingness beautiful.

"It's interesting," helium said. "I ended up coming retired present with my ex a bit, and I fell successful emotion with it. It was conscionable ace calm and chill. And I conscionable wanted to similar instrumentality a interruption from similar the engaged metropolis due to the fact that  I was surviving successful New York for 3 years astatine the clip and it conscionable got a spot overwhelming."

The "Dusk Till Dawn" vocalist revealed this his forthcoming album volition diagnostic a saccharine root of inspiration.

"I'm doing a grounds I don't deliberation radical are truly going to expect," Zayn teased. "It's a antithetic dependable for maine and it's got immoderate much communicative going on, similar existent beingness experiences and stuff. So, yeah, my daughter's mentioned successful determination a mates of times."