Following the controversial photo of Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik originally published by Daily Mail UK, One Direction fans are in shock on what seems to be an illicit photo showing the heartthrobs smoking weed.  Instead of denial, band member Liam Payne apologized for anyone and anything that has been affected by the issue. 

In his Twitter account, Payne did not explicitly own up to the wrongdoing but admitted that the boys have fallen off track from the public's expectations.  "I love my boys and maybe things have gone a little sideways, I apologize for that.  We are only in our 20's.  We all do stupid things at this age," tweeted Payne on June 1.

He also criticized details of the article written by Jan Moir, which he believed mislead the fans in knowing the truth.  Payne followed up, "Like so many writers before, consistently get things wrong looking down their noses thinking they are oh so right.  Anyway thank you for your lovely words Mrs Moir sorry we let you down so fantastically maybe next time a little research is in order."

Meanwhile, One Direction manager Simon Cowell remains supportive of his British talents, he appealed, "I hope the fans stay loyal," reported 3AM.  The American Idol jury praised the lads not only for being hardworking, but also consistently grateful for their fans.

Cowell furthered, "I've worked with a lot of artists who do lose the plot and do lose respect for their fans and forget who took them there, but they've never done that," Mirror UK reported.  Unfortunately, an insider to One Direction revealed that the group has been struggling since the news broke out and said that it was Tomlinson and Malik against the other three members.

"At times, they're hardly talking backstage.  Liam, Harry, and Niall are worried about losing fans.  They're also nervous the scandal might affect their success in America," an anonymous source told Closer magazine.