Angry sports fans are the least of The Daily Show's concerns today -- the show has angered the mighty One Direction fandom.
The in-Zayn dispute started Tuesday with a segment about the United States' involvement in the Middle East, in which correspondent Jessica Williams joked that "a new terrorist group just formed, with one member each from ISIS, al Nusra, al Qaeda, Hamas, One Direction and the Zetas drug cartel."
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Though Williams didn't specify which member of One Direction was joining the fake group, fans went on the defense. They accused The Daily Show of calling Zayn Malik, who is Muslim and has previously been targeted for his beliefs (including a particularly deplorable parody song titled "Zayn Did 9/11"), a terrorist. Before long, #TheDailyShowGoneTooFar was the top trending topic on Twitter. #ZaynDefenseSquad, #ZaynIsTheMostAmazingHumanBeing and #ZaynSavesNotKills also trended. (#Thorough.)
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Jon Stewart now joins the elite club of One Direction fan hashtag targets that includes Justin Bieber, The Who, British soccer player Gabriel Agbonlahor, Boy George, GQ and anyone ever romantically linked to a One Direction member.