Any casual observer of the three-way snipe-fest that's transpired between Naughty Boy, One Direction and Zayn Malik on Twitter over the past six months knows that everyone played their (fairly petty) part in the mess. But in an interview with British morning show ITV1 this week, producer Naughty Boy acted like the whole thing passively happened to him — while taking another dig at the band for good measure.

The producer was on the show to promote his new "Runnin" single with Beyonce, but host Lorraine Kelly couldn't resist the opportunity to bring up 1D. Upon the mere mention of their name, Naughty Boy rolled his eyes. "I basically just got caught up in a circus," he said. "When Zayn left the group, I was accused of being the reason why he left. People thought he left because he wanted to work with me."

That's not altogether inaccurate — some One Direction fans did direct their anger over Zayn's departure toward his earliest collaborator. But the musicians' public feud was the match that lit the fire of their disdain: For example, in July, a Kansas City fan threw an unfortunate monkey piñata with Naughty Boy's face on it, and Louis and Liam gleefully destroyed it. But 30-year-old Naughty Boy certainly gave as good as he got this past spring.

And he's (still) freely sharing his (low) opinion of the foursome: "One Direction aren't even a band," he said. "They're more like an economy. Not a band." Yes, many people make money from the existence of One Direction, just as with any mega-bankable pop act — but not a band? Hmm.

As for his own part in the spat, he'll own up — to a point. "In hindsight, when all of that happened, it was like I went back to primary school. But now I'm working with people like Beyonce, it's like I'm doing my masters." Oh, so you're saying it was child's play, but Bey was able to "Upgrade U"? Got it.

Naughty Boy, who, according to British tabloid The Sun, once said Louis Tomlinson "needs to shut his mouth" and was "messing with a sleeping lion," now says this: "I am not a tabloid guy. I don't want to be in the papers. The only thing I want to be known for is my music. I want to make music to inspire people, for weddings and even funerals."

Let's hope this interview was a funeral for Naughty Boy ever discussing One Direction again. You watch his remarks on the whole flap below.

  Did You Know These 11 One Direction Facts?

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