Last Wednesday, Zayn Malik announced via Facebook that he would be leaving the wildly popular British boy band One Direction. In his statement he said, “I am leaving because I want to be a normal 22-year-old who is able to relax and have some private time out of the spotlight.”

But you probably already knew that, if the sheer volume of media coverage is any indication.

People are panicking about Zayn’s departure. Countless tweets along the lines of “OMG Zayn is leaving 1D aka my life is OVER” are circulating, sometimes even being compiled into articles like YouTube comedy duo Smosh’s “24 Crazy Over-The-Top Reactions to Zayn Malik Leaving One Direction.” These tweets are amusing to read, but it’s hard to not roll your eyes.

As of Saturday afternoon, there were 47 articles on Buzzfeed featuring Zayn and his shocking news, each taking a more ridiculous angle than the last. One article reported that people are requesting time off from work to deal with this loss, another lists his most memorable outfits and another simply lists 50 things that “will never be the same” now that Zayn has left, such as waterfalls, tacos and seeing a puppy.

This is getting out of hand. Yes, Zayn was a beloved member of One Direction. Yes, people are allowed to be upset and reminisce on the good ole’ days. But Zayn also has the right to quit his job and not become the world’s most discussed news story. If you’re such a huge fan of his, let Zayn go off in his new direction. Maybe he’ll become the next Nick Jonas, and that can only be a good thing.  ̶ J. Cibelli