Zayn Malik, 28, and Yolanda Hadid, 57, were fighting over a leaked photo of Gigi’s one-year-old daughter, Khai, their friends said.
According to The Sun, Zayn has been charged with harassing his partner, Gigi Hadid, 26, and allegedly shoving her mother Yolanda into a dresser after a verbal and “physical” altercation at his home in Pennsylvania.
Now, their friends have revealed that the former One Direction singer – who was known to be a very private person and has always hidden baby Khai’s face on social media – was outraged when Yolanda shared a photo of his daughter and exposed her face to her 3.7 million Instagram followers.
Back in January, Yolanda posted a sweet photo tribute to baby Khai and eagle-eyed fans spotted the child’s reflection in a mirror on the wall.
Yolanda then quickly deleted the photo and posted another version with the one-year-old’s face now cropped out, but the damage has been done.
“Back in January, Yolanda accidentally posted a photo of Khai where you could see her face and Zayn went crazy,” a source told The Sun. “He’s so protective of his daughter’s privacy, he was so mad.”
“Yolanda deleted it immediately but things were tense,” the source added. “Yolanda doesn’t see what the issue is, but Zayn – and Gigi – are very against their child being photographed and it’s been a huge cause of tension between them.”
Zayn and Gigi welcomed their daughter, Khai, in September last year after five years of on-again-off-again relationship.
Since the issue between them broke out, Zayn has publicly admitted that he indeed clash with his partner’s mother.
“As you all know I am a private person and I very much want to create a safe and private place for my daughter to grow up in,” Zayn said in a statement posted on Twitter. “A place where private family matters aren’t thrown on the world stage for all to poke and pick apart.”
“In an effort to protect that space for (Khai),” Zayn wrote. “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 several weeks ago.”
“This was and still should be a private matter but it seems for now there is divisiveness and despite my efforts to restore us to a peaceful family environment that will allow for me to co-parent my daughter in a manner in which she deserves, this has been leaked to the press.”
“I am hopeful though for healing for all involved with the harsh words shared and more importantly I remain vigilant to protect Khai and give her the privacy she deserves.”