Simon Cowell Defends One Direction In Weed Smoking Video

One Direction sparked outrage last week when a video surfaced that showed band members Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson smoking marijuana in Peru.

Now their mentor,Simon Cowell, has spoken about the incident in an interview with the Digital Spy and insists there is nothing to worry about.

“What I can say is that they’re the hardest-working boys I’ve ever worked with,” says Cowell. “They still haven’t changed. They’re really respectful of their fans [and] they’re a great British export… they’ve been a joy to work with. I’ve worked with a lot of artists in the past who do lose the plot, who do lose respect for their fans, they’ve never done that.”

When asked what advice he gave to the boy band, Cowell declined to say, stating it was a “private matter.” He added that he is “on the phone all the time” with all of his artists.

Over the weekend, band member Liam Payne apologized on behalf of the group through Twitter:

One Direction, who are signed to Cowell’s Syco Records, will be hitting the road in North America later this year.