Zayn Malik Thanks One Direction In Asian Awards Speech: Watch
Zayn Malik thanked One Direction while accepting an award for Outstanding Achievement in Music at the fifth annual Asian Awards, held April 17 in London. This was Malik’s first public appearance since he left the boy band in March, and compared to how stressed he sounded during his departure (“I can’t do this anymore,” he told The Sun), he was completely at ease.
“I’d also like to take this moment to thank four of the best guys I’ve ever met, whilst being in the band and all of the amazing things that I did,” Malik said. “Some of the things we did will stay with me for the rest of my life, and I thank you for that.”
Malik also thanked his parents “for making me Asian.” (He’s British-Pakistani.) When producer and friend Naughty Boy introduced him, he may as well have thanked Malik’s parents, too. “I consider him to be a friend, a brother and probably the most exciting Asian star that I’ve met,” he said.
When Malik left One Direction, he stressed in an official statement that he has friends for life in his former bandmates: Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Niall Horan. He just wanted to start living life as a normal 22-year-old, and during his Asian Awards speech, he made sure to emphasize that he’s moving on.
“I want to thank God for allowing me to be able to do what my dreams were,” Malik said, after a highlight reel of One Direction’s awards and accomplishments flashed in the screen behind him. Watch his Asian Awards acceptance speech up top.
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