It all started when Liam Payne of One Direction sent a tweet to Duck Dynasty’s Willie Robertson, which sent One Direction fans and the media into major panic mode.
Wow. Very confused and disappointed by this @Real_Liam_Payne tweet. This literally changes everything… pic.twitter.com/aQajQdJhfQ
— Tyler Oakley (@tyleroakley) January 18, 2014
It ended by Liam having a full-fledged Twitter rage, tweeting 11 times in 23 minutes and making the hashtag lazyjournos a worldwide trend.
According to Liam, he just said that he liked the reality show Duck Dynasty.
But journalists took his comment to mean that he supported the aforementioned “family values” of Phil Robertson, the show’s patriarch.
In December, Phil notoriously offended the gay community by these comments he made to GQ:
Everything is blurred on what’s right and what’s wrong. Sin becomes fine. Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men. Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers — they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right
Payne had absolutely no patience for what he referred to as the reporters “lazy” reporting skills, creating the hashtag #lazyjournos
I just watched a show and I liked it as most people do stop sitting in my twitter and do your research #lazyjournos
— Liam Payne (@Real_Liam_Payne) January 19, 2014
In one tweet, he included a picture of some of the misleading articles on Mirror, Perez Hilton, and Digital Spy.
Look at this shit I never said any if that write about something real for once there's plenty of issues In the world pic.twitter.com/FDsqtyr5Ht
— Liam Payne (@Real_Liam_Payne) January 19, 2014
Things took a dramatic turn when he used a curse word to refer to the media, telling them to let him live his life without their scrutiny.
What I gotta do to please you bastards I'm a 20 year old just living life as you did when u where twenty but in extraordinary circumstances
— Liam Payne (@Real_Liam_Payne) January 19, 2014
The fresh-faced icon knew he would be getting a backlash for his not-so-nice language. He foreshadowed this by saying,
Can't wait for the call tomorrow where I get told of for cussing had to be said like I said before much worse has happened In the world
— Liam Payne (@Real_Liam_Payne) January 19, 2014
To be sure he wasn’t offending the many One Direction fans on Twitter, he posted this:
All those tweets are aimed at journalists and bloggers not fans
— Liam Payne (@Real_Liam_Payne) January 19, 2014
He ended his rage after midnight, with this final sendoff:
Pick ur balls up off the floor and get on with it instead of taking advantage of every word said and twisting it for your own gain
— Liam Payne (@Real_Liam_Payne) January 19, 2014
The next morning, Liam’s sister Ruth explained her brother’s actions.
Ruth and Liam Payne (Facebook)
@IgnoranzMustEnd i read this- he hasnt had time to read up on the family before his tweet- he saw a programme liked it tweeted
— Roo Payne (@RuthPayne0990) January 20, 2014
After all this, dedicated One Direction fans still sent their unwavering support. In fact, they even jumped on Liam’s bandwagon with anti-journalistic sentiments.
The rumors they make up about One Direction & other stars are ridiculous… Seriously stop. Get a life. #lazyjournos pic.twitter.com/Uy76puVMr4
— Kami (@Woahhkamiii) January 19, 2014
To add to the controversy, Liam and Willie are now following one another on Twitter.
Willie Robertson. (Facebook)
Willie, who doesn’t follow many people on the social-networking site, added Liam most recently, as the 87th handle he views. Maybe One Direction will make a guest appearance on Duck Dynasty one day.
