Singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson quickly got a glimpse into what it's like to have fame on the level of Zayn Malik and Gigi Hadid.
The 41-year-old "Girls Chase Boys" performer briefly sent social media into a frenzy on Monday, March 29 when she mistakenly referred to the longtime couple as "married" during a live stream on Patreon. At the time, she had been expressing appreciation that the 28-year-old One Direction standout recorded their recent duet "To Begin Again" with her, but fans quickly assumed Ingrid might know something the rest of the world doesn't.
Later that night, after "Zayn is married" had been trending on Twitter, Ingrid took to her Instagram Story to apologize to Zayn and Gigi for her accidental gaffe and thank the fans who supported her throughout the stressful turn of events.
"So, I should be asleep, but it's been a crazy hour, hour and a half," she said in the footage. "On my Patreon live stream, I said that I'm working with Zayn. I mentioned that he was married, and he's not married. As far as I know, he's not married. It was a mistake. I'm so sorry, I said I was sorry. I don't live in this world. So the level of fame, it makes me really, truly admire Zayn and anybody with that level of fame. Every little thing you say is just, Wow! I'm not built for it."
She continued, "Just everybody has said really sweet things to me, and I have taken it very much to heart. And thank you. You have helped me to be able to, probably, fall asleep tonight. So that's all. My apologies to Zayn and Gigi, if any of this trickles to you and is annoying. I'm sorry—that's not my intention. And to his fans, I'm sorry for getting you all riled up, and much love to you all. And I'm gonna go to sleep now."
Ingrid also attempted to set the record straight on Twitter. "Can I just get a hug?" she wrote shortly after the hysteria had begun.
Later, she responded to a fan who, along with sharing a GIF of a man emerging from a coffin, tweeted that Ingrid had convinced the "whole fandom that zayn is married." The musician replied, "I MADE A MISTAKE IM SORRY BUT ALSO I LOVE THAT LEOPARD PRINT COFFIN BLANKET."
As Ingrid herself surely has learned by now, the notoriously private couple rekindled their romance in late 2019 and welcomed baby daughter Khai in September 2020. But they've never tied the knot—as far as anyone knows.
Neither Zayn nor Gigi have yet to comment on the furor.
If nothing else, we'd like to convince ourselves that this whole situation has made Ingrid realize how complicated keeping track of celebrities' love lives can be, and that we're truly doing the Lord's work over here.