Simon Cowell said that Zayn Malik's previous comments about why he left the band were "rude."

The music mogul who mentored One Direction while they were on the X Factor has spoken with The Mirror and reckoned that Malik's comments were "rude." Cowell also claimed that in due course, Zayn would rethink his opinion.

"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," Simon said. Adding, "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."

Cowell then said he hasn't thought about the former 1D's departure since he left the band earlier this year. And to add more cut to the injury, Simon said that since Malik left his bandmates, he wants to make the boys understand that they could still continue with their success even without Zayn and "they did," he added.

Cowell's rant came after Zayn graced the cover of Fader magazine for the December/ January issue, where he said that his departure was due to no freedom to say what they like to put on their music. "There was never any room for me to experiment creatively in the band," Malik said.

He also said that his suggestions for their music were always ignored as the label always contradicted his ideas, claiming that his ideas doesn't "fit" the group's image. He also said that he is becoming weary over the music label's music management as they forced the group to perform and sing with the music that they didn't compose.

"I wasn't 100 percent behind the music. It wasn't me. It was music that was already given to us, and we were told this is what is going to sell to these people," he exclaimed at that time. He added that he "felt weird" about the whole thing as they were advised to be happy about their success but it's "something that we weren't happy about," he added.