Liam Payne has made light of Zayn Malik departing the One Direction world tour and it's caused something of a backlash among diehard fans.
Payne tweeted a photo of the boyband's photocall in the Philippines, which showed him covering Malik's face on a promotional poster.
He wrote: "#makinglightofasituation sorry for the laughs guys."
After fans accused Payne of "erasing" Malik from the group, he followed up by tweeting: "Some people can't take a joke... Bit of banter guys chill out" and "Never mind".
Last week, Malik was signed off the world tour due to stress and has returned to the UK.
#makinglightofasituation sorry for the laughs guys pic.twitter.com/p9GyIMLALV
— Liam (@Real_Liam_Payne) March 23, 2015Some people can't take a joke ... Bit of banter guys chill out
— Liam (@Real_Liam_Payne) March 23, 2015