Zayn Malik says he chose not fight Yolanda Hadid's harassment allegations for the sake of his and Gigi Hadid's daughter
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- Zayn Malik appeared on "Call Her Daddy" — his first interview in six years — on Wednesday.
- He told host Alex Cooper why he chose not to contest Yolanda Hadid's 2021 harassment allegations.
- "I believe I dealt with it in the best way. In an amicable, respectful way," he said.
Zayn Malik said he chose not to contest Yolanda Hadid's harassment allegations because he didn't want his daughter to one day read a "negative back and forth" between them.
Appearing on the podcast, "Call Her Daddy," the British-born singer discussed the incident for the first time and said that he dealt with the situation in what he believes was an "amicable, and "respectful way."
"I don't get involved when people talk online," he told host Alex Cooper. "My most valuable thing for me is time and I don't want to be justifying myself."
The singer went on to say he was concerned continuing to talk about the alleged altercation would result in a "sort of narrative online where my daughter was going to look back and read that and be able to read into it, and it would just be something that was."
The former One Direction star, 30, shares two-year-old daughter Khai with model Gigi Hadid, 28. She was born in September 2020.
In October 2021, the couple split following reports of an altercation between Malik and the model's mom, Yolanda Hadid.
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According to legal filings seen by TMZ, Yolanda entered the Pennsylvania property Malik then shared with his ex (who was away on a modeling job in Paris). Malik ordered her to "stay away" from his daughter and swore at her during an argument on September 29, 2021.
According to the documents seen by TMZ, Zayn "shoved" Yolanda "into a dresser causing mental anguish and physical pain."
In the aftermath of the alleged incident, Malik took to Twitter, describing the altercation as a "private matter," and stated that he would not fight the claims. "In an effort to protect that space for [Khai] I agreed to not contest claims arising from an argument I had with a family member of my partner's who entered our home while my partner was away," he wrote.
According to court documents seen by Insider, Malik pleaded "no contest" to four counts of harassment.
Speaking on the podcast, which was released on Wednesday, Malik said: "I knew what the situation was, and I knew what happened, and the people involved know what happened, and that's all that matters."
"I believe I dealt with it in the best way. In an amicable, respectful way, and that's all that needs to be said. It was a lot of negativity," he continued. "'They're family issues I'd rather keep in the family."
"You don't need a whole audience of people and opinions because it's hard enough to manage between two."