Calvin Harris and Zayn Malik argue over Taylor Swift in explosive Twitter feud

First it was Nicki Minaj versus Taylor Swift, then Drake against Meek Mill and now Calvin Harris and Zayn Malik find themselves embroiled in a Twitter feud, with the DJ aiming his words at the ex-One Direction star in defence of girlfriend Taylor Swift.

The feud began after Malik retweeted a post that compared two quotes: one spoken by Swift and the other by Miley Cyrus, both of which highlighted their two conflicting approaches to having their music available for streaming. Swift's statement had her explaining her decisions for removing all of her music from Spotify, while Cyrus's simply read: "I've made my money. If no one buys my album, cool. It's fine. I've got a house, and I've got dogs that I love. I don't need anything else."

The post was evidently in favour of Cyrus's laidback approach given which sections of the sentences it chose to highlight and was accompanied by the tweet: "The difference is astounding."

Scottish musician Harris, noticing the 22-year-old sharing the post, then took to his personal account to write directly to Malik saying: "You've made your money? Cool... f*** the 99% of musicians who depend on these services to survive, right? Yeah f*** em."

The 31-year-old then continued: "If you don't get what it means when a successful artist uses their celebrity to benefit every other musician and songwriter in the industry... then stay out of my f***ing mentions. While u kids are refresh voting teen choice awards there's some poor f***er in a basement making your new favorite record trying to survive. Meaning... stay out of things you don't understand."

However, it wasn't long before Malik hit back at the Pray To God hitmaker, telling him he had "made an absolute fool" of himself while also clarifying that he was just trying to make a general statement rather than aiming an attack at Swift. The former One Direction member then went on to say: "You clearly don't understand what I just said either. So I suggest you calm your knickers before them dentures fall out."

After that, it appeared Harris had had enough of arguing and tried to end the feud on a more positive comment, as he said: "All good, it was the quote not you personally mate." But it was a notion that fell on deaf ears when it came to Malik, as he made one last hit back, retaliating: "Oh and I write my own s*** too d******d." The spat was finished for good when Harris replied: "Best of luck, genuinely. You've got a great voice."

However, 1D fans were surprised when Malik's ex-bandmate Louis Tomlinson seemed to side with Harris in the online disagreement, favouriting the Feel So Close star's first tweet that called Malik out on what he had shared.