Zayn Malik has found a new direction and it's all about stepping out of the spotlight ... he says he's leaving One Direction to be just a regular guy for awhile.

The band announced Malik's exit via Facebook Wednesday but Zayn says even though the last 5 years have been a dream, he needs to go with his gut and chill ... you know, just like every other normal 22-year-old pop icon.

The rest of the group says it's a huge bummer, but they respect his decision and plans to go on as a foursome with Niall, Harry, Liam, and Louis picking up the slack.

Producer Simon Cowell also sang Zayn's praises but he's definitely holding his chin up and assuring the die-hard fans they have nothing to fear -- the band will go on.

As for Zayn's reason to splitsville ... last Thursday he bowed out of the band's world tour due to "stress," but rumors swirled his lifestyle threatened his relationship with his fiance.

The band vows to continue to tour as a lead up to their fifth album.

Kobe did it ... LeBron did it ...and now Harry Styles is also teaming up with the tribe for some good old fashioned athletic competition -- at a Jewish Community Center.

TMZ Sports has learned ... the One Direction star hit up the Westside JCC in L.A. Thursday to play a little indoor hockey with some friends.

We're told Styles was one helluva player -- scoring several goals during the hour-and-a-half long session.

Fun Fact -- there were actually 6 Jews in the NHL last season! Who knew?

Michael Sam is getting support from one of the biggest pop stars in the world -- Harry Styles ... who rocked the football player's jersey during a One Direction concert in St. Louis yesterday.

Harry threw on a #96 St. Louis Rams jersey with Sam's name across the back during the a performance at Edward Jones Dome ... where the Rams play.

It's an interesting move for Styles -- whose bandmate Liam Payne came under fire for his support for the "Duck Dynasty" guys after the reality stars came out against gay marriage.

Zayn Malik from One Direction has dared to go where Rihanna chickened out ... he just tweeted, "#FreePalestine."

The 21-year-old singer -- who grew up Muslim -- posted his comment Sunday night and lots of followers quickly reacted. One posted, "Are you still alive? You should be dead by now and kill yourself." Another said, "You and your family need to die."

Someone -- apparently in Israel -- wrote, "U have fans in #Israel. It broke me that one of my idols wand (sic) me to die."

Malik -- unlike Rihanna -- didn't back down. She removed an identical tweet 8 minutes after it was posted.

One Direction is gunning for the person they say stole a private video showing Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson smoking weed.

The video, which appears on MailOnline, shows the guys enjoying a joint while riding around in an SUV while in Peru.

At one point in the video -- shot earlier this year -- Louis is seen passing Zayn the joint and saying, "One very very important factor of Zayn’s warm up of course is Mary J, herself."

A rep for the band tells TMZ the video was stolen and that the band's lawyers are investigating.

Say what you will about Louis Tomlinson, but the One Direction singer's got a serious pair of cojones for taking a stand on one of the biggest arguments in sports -- Messi vs. Ronaldo.

Louis -- who dabbles in pro soccer himself -- was leaving a tattoo shop in L.A. this weekend when we asked him ... who's the better player??! The pretty boy or the Atomic Flea?!

It's a raging controversy in the football world ... here are the cliff notes for the debate:

-- Ronaldo has 38 goals in '13/'14 play ... Messi has 27.
-- Messi outscored Ronaldo by 18 GOALS in the 2 seasons before that.
-- Messi has 13 more assists than Ronaldo over the past 3 seasons.

But ... Ronaldo is bigger where it counts -- his wallet.

According to Goal.com, Ronaldo's worth €148 million ... while Messi's only worth a puny €146 million.

One Direction singer Louis Tomlinson made his pro soccer DEBUT in England last night ... and while his performance was lackluster, dude was OBSESSED with his own beautiful hair.

The 22-year-old pop star hit the pitch for the Doncaster Rovers, a Football League Championship team based in Yorkshire.

Tomlinson entered the game at right back ... but didn't really see much action.

Instead, people at the game say he spent a lot of time flipping his hair around on the field.

Still, the crowd went wild for the guy ... and his team didn't lose -- the game ended in a 0-0 tie.

One Direction fans can chill ... the boys aren't breaking up yet -- which is awesome news for anyone who isn't named Harry Styles.

That guy's kinda screwed.

One Direction is NOT breaking up -- despite reports to the contrary -- in fact, TMZ has learned, the group still has to complete 3 more albums under their contract.

Reports have been circulating that 1D is splintering -- especially after Liam Payne said he hadn't seen the other guys in months at the Brit Awards this week -- but sources tell us, the D is remaining a package deal.

We're told the group's been writing songs separately ... but the solo writing is just part of the process -- and the guys eventually compare notes with each other to come up with final versions.

And they better do a lot of that ... we're told 1D still owes the label 3 records before they can even think about calling it quits. So, a break-up just isn't on the table.

Earlier today ... Harry Styles told the UK Sun a similar story -- saying the group was just taking time to visit family and will be rehearsing again soon.

Harry Styles would make a good Jewish mother ... because the "One Direction" singer thinks everyone should be well fed -- even us.

Harry -- sans Kendall Jenner -- was carrying a doggie bag as he left Swingers in L.A. after a late-night dinner ... when our photog spotted him.

Harry didn't talk, but he seemed concerned our guy Kris was undernourished ... so he offered Kris his greasy leftovers.

Fun Fact: This is the same photog who once rooted around for Johnny Depp's used cigarette butt.

One Direction singer Liam Payne went off via Twitter Saturday night after U.K. journalists blasted him for daring to say he likes "Duck Dynasty" ... and now, Liam's threatening to ditch social media.

Liam tweeted "D.D." star Willie Robertson ... saying he's a big fan and respects the show's family values. Some U.K. media outlets labelled it homophobic -- and Liam got pissed.

Liam tweeted after, "Being a fan of someones show and the way they still hold a family together doesn't mean i am ok with all they say."

However, Liam began melting down after fans also went on the attack. He unloaded a barrage of tweets, bashing the UK media and proclaiming he was "sick of this all" ... and would come back to Twitter once "the freedom of speech law is back."

Do they have that in the U.K.?

British rockers "Def Leppard" claim "One Direction" ripped off one of their biggest hits ... and get this ... they're flattered.

Def's legendary one-armed drummer Rick Allen tells us any fool can hear the similarities between their 1987 hit "Pour Some Sugar On Me" ... and 1D's tune, "Midnight Memories."

Maybe the real reason for calling off the lawyers ... Allen seems to admit he's done to other bands what 1D did to his. Listen to him ... it's hysterical.

Still, we gotta ask ...

There may be a little nip in the air at the American Music Awards Sunday ... TMZ has learned Kendall Jenner will be presenting.

The gig comes on the heels of the 18-year-old's very adult Instagram photo.

We're told she'll be presenting Best Pop Rock album, and get this -- the nominees are Justin Timberlake, Taylor Swift and One Direction. As you know, Kendall was out with Harry Styles this week -- so advantage 1D.

This is Kendall's first time making a big appearance without the Kardashian brood.

I think it went blech, blech, blech ... I think it went grrble, grrble, grrble ...

So, it wasn't exactly the Best Puke Ever ... but Louis Tomlinson from One Direction yacked his face off during a charity soccer match in Europe this weekend ... and it was all caught on tape.

The boy bander had just passed the ball off to a teammate, when Gabriel Agbonlahor -- a really good pro soccer player -- came flying in and knocked Louis on his ass.

Louis rolled around in pain clutching his leg (like soccer players do) ... but eventually got up and made his way to the sidelines.

But as soon as he got off the field, Tomlinson upchucked ... spewing all over the sidelines.

Taylor Swift doesn't just write breakup songs about her ex-boyfriends ... she talks SMACK about them during award shows ... and last night, she got caught. On camera.

It happened when One Direction took the stage to present a Moon Man at the MTV VMAs for Best Pop Video.

FYI -- Taylor used to date Harry Styles (they broke up in January) ... but apparently, she's still harboring some resentment -- 'cause as the band rambled on, the camera cut to Swift ... who leaned over to Selena Gomez and mouthed the words, "SHUT. THE. F**K. UP."

There are people out there who swear Taylor wasn't cussing -- that she was saying the words, "Sorry for my arm."

Those people are stupid.