Calvin Harris Defends Taylor Swift After Zayn Malik Tweet

DJ Calvin Harris and Zayn Malik got into a heated Twitter exchange this morning after Malik retweeted a meme that compares Taylor Swift‘s views on artist royalties with Miley Cyrus‘ modest views on album sales.

The tweet — captioned, “the difference is astounding” — features a screenshot of Swift’s TIME interview in which she explains how “Spotify could hurt music sales.” The tweet also includes an excerpt from Cyrus’ W Magazine interview in which she states, “I’ve made my money” and “it’s fine” if “no one buys my album.”

Harris responded to the retweet and explained that Swift did not pull her collection from the streaming service in an attempt to line her pocket, but instead, to use her power to spark change in the music business for the benefit other artists. “You’ve made your money?” the “Summer” singer-producer tweeted. “Cool … f**k the 99% of musicians who depend on these services to survive right? Yeah f**k em.”

He continued, “If u don’t get what it means when a successful artist uses their celebrity to benefit every other musician and songwriter in the industry … stay out my f**kin mentions pls. While u kids are refresh voting teen choice awards there’s some poor f**ker in a basement making your new favorite record trying to survive. Meaning … stay out of things you don’t understand.”

Malik retorted by telling Harris, “You just made a absolute fool of yourself mate.” The Scottish DJ tried to put an end to the scuffle by writing back to the former One Direction member, “All good, it was the quote not you personally mate.” However, Malik refused to back down and continued to name-call.

Via Ryan Seacrest