The British and Irish boy band One Direction appeared Monday morning on the ”Today” show one member short. Though the other group members said Zayn Malik had stayed home because he was ill, host Matt Lauer pushed the interview further asking about drug abuse rumors.

The popular boy band appeared on the “Today” show to promote their new album “Four” and arrived at Universal Orlando Resorts to perform for fans and record the interview.

Matt Lauer, who was hosting the event, asked the band members where Malik was. Fellow band member Liam Payne told him he was sick.

"He’s got a tummy bug, so he’s not very well," Payne said. "We only found out this morning, so we’re really sad. He is as well, that he can’t be here for our album release. ... It's still going to be a great day, I’m sure.”

However, according to Entertainment Tonight, Lauer would not let the matter drop, pushing further and asking about drug abuse rumors surrounding the boy band.

“Liam, there’s obviously a lot of concern, a lot of fans have been tweeting overnight, there’s been a lot of action on social media about him,” Lauer said. “Is it something more serious than just a minor illness? There have been rumors of substance abuse. What’s going on?”

Payne reiterated that his band mate was ill. The crowd did not take well the intrusive question and began booing the “Today” host.

Malik also did not take the question well. According to Us Weekly, he told The Sun that he was angry about the question.

"I'm really angry and upset by what was said on the 'Today' show," Malik said in the interview. "I was really ill at the weekend, that's why I couldn't fly to America. I was gutted to have to miss album release day, but I’m going to be back as soon as I can," he said. "As soon as I'm feeling better I'm going to join the guys and carry on with the promotion for the album."

Although there has not been rumors about the band members usings drugs recently, earlier this year a video surfaced of Malik and Louis Tomlinson smoking marijuana in a car while in Peru.

Watch the video: