1D fans grieve with sickies, tears
TEARS are flowing and hundreds of Zayn Malik fans seek compassionate leave to deal with his departure from One Direction.
The star’s split from the boy band has left hearts in pieces and flooded social media with messages of mourning.
And in the US, one mayor has exhorted his constituents to ‘soldier on’ amid the devastation.
WORKERS ASK TO STAY HOME TO DEAL WITH THE HEARTBREAK
ONE UK-based employer advice service reported receiving 220 calls from workers requesting compassionate leave.
“You just could not make this up,” Alan Price, the employment law director at firm Peninsula, tweeted.
“While I sympathise with One Direction fans, I hardly think this qualified as compassionate leave,” Mr Price told the Manchester Evening News.
“This is the advice we have had to give to employers.”
@AWBellMENMedia Hard to believe but we have received calls from bosses whose staff requested compassionate leave over Zayn Malik leaving 1D
— Alan Price (@alan__price) March 26, 2015
However, Mr Price warned that abusing compassionate leave ripped off fellow colleagues who may genuinely need time off.
“Compassionate leave is what you allow if a close relative dies, unless the employer is unaware of family ties with Zayn Malik then I hardly think that this qualifies,” he told the newspaper.
Although it sounds strange, the hundreds of workers seeking compassionate leave over the boy band split isn’t unusual.
The Take That split in 1996 sparked a similar response, with a spike in calls from bosses concerned workers were requesting time off, Mr Price told the Manchester Evening News.
“While I sympathise to a point, you have to ask yourself whether it’s more of an obsession and whether time off is really needed.”
“It’s worth noting that the dismissal of Jeremy Clarkson has not led to calls,” he said of the sacked Top Gear presenter.
US MAYOR EXHORTS CONSTITUENTS TO ‘SOLDIER ON’
MEANWHILE in the US, the mayor of Boston Marty Walsh said we must ‘soldier on’ in the wake of Malik’s departure.
Caroline Holland, who had asked him why he was yet to release an official statement on the news, then tweeted Walsh should be president.
.@choll12 We are all devastated about Zayn Malik but we must soldier on #ASKMJW
— Mayor Marty Walsh (@marty_walsh) March 25, 2015
Did we just become best friends??? RT @marty_walsh: .@choll12 We are all devastated about Zayn Malik but we must soldier on #ASKMJW
— Caroline Holland (@choll12) March 25, 2015
@marty_walsh my mayor everybody
— bio if unf (@tiredkink) March 26, 2015
SPOTIFY GOES NUTS AS FANS SEEK SOLACE PLAYING 1D SONGS
.@OneDirection streams are up 769% on @Spotify after Zayn’s departure http://t.co/Egqa3w41wD pic.twitter.com/sZ9jg7eg3z
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) March 26, 2015
A ‘SPIKE of sadness’ was also recorded on music streaming service Spotify in the US as millions of fans paid tribute to Malik by listening to One Direction’s music.
“Looking at One Direction’s streams in the US on Spotify yesterday, we can clearly see the ‘spike of sadness’ happening around 5pm-6pm (ET), when their millions of fans paid tribute to Zayn by listening to One Direction’s music together all over the world,” Spotify’s Head of Label Relations for Europe, Kevin Brown, said, according to Entertainment Weekly.
According to Spotify, streams of One Direction songs are up an astounding 769% since the news broke, Buzzfeed reported.
FANS LAUNCH BID TO BUY ONE DIRECTION
Go support The Sixth Alliance! I know I will, anything for the boys. http://t.co/GuWLbfWXh1
— Lonneke ∞ (@LonnekeG_L0v31D) March 26, 2015
A US-BASED group calling itself the Sixth Alliance, is trying to buy One Direction from its management after Malik left the band.
“We would like to buy One Direction from Modest Management so the boys Harry, Liam, Louis, Niall and Zayn have freedom to chose and have possibilities to decide on their own careers,” they say on the website.
So far, 95 people have raised $ 1400 — a little short of the $ 500 million target.
FANS TAKE TO EXTREME MEASURES
IN a more sinister trend on social media, a hashtag calling on fans to show their love for One Direction, and distress at Malik’s departure by cutting themselves, has also been circulating.
DISTURBING TREND: 1D fans aren’t really coping
WENDY TUOHY: Girls it’s a boy band, please don’t self harm
Originally published as 1D fans grieve with sickies, tears
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