Malik said that he left the band in March it so that he could make “real music” for a change.
Cowell reacted by saying that his words were “rude”, and claimed that he would eventually rethink his opinion, reports says
“I think once he has had a chance to reflect on everything he will probably reconsider what he’s said because it was a very, very democratic process in the band,” said Cowell, who mentored the band while they were on the reality TV show "The X Factor."
“It is a bit rude to the people who wrote all the hits with them. And to the other band members. I mean they all wrote a lot of the stuff," he added.
Cowell dismissed Malik’s complaints, as he added: “Life could have been a lot worse, right?”
Adding insult to injury after calling him “rude”, Cowell admitted that he hasn’t given 22-year-old Malik much thought since he sensationally quit the band sending fans of One Direction into a meltdown.
“To be honest, I don’t even think about it too much because as soon as he left we sorted him out with a label who really were enthusiastic about him and then my loyalty was back with the boys,” he said.