Simon Cowell Says ‘I Doubt’ One Direction Will Reunite, Regrets Not Owning Band Name: ‘Could Have Made an Animation or Whatever’

variety.com:

Ethan Shanfeld Simon Cowell has one regret about One Direction: not owning the band name. On Stephen Bartlett’s “The Diary of a CEO” podcast, the television and music mogul discussed what made One Direction special and how he helped them reach success after forming the band on his series “The X Factor” and signing them to a record deal. “When I was talking to One Direction, I remember saying to them, ‘Our goal is for you to have enough hits that if you ever reform, that you can do stadium tours.

That means you got to have about 10 hit singles,” Cowell said. When asked if he thinks they will ever reunite, he said, “I doubt it.” Cowell then said, “One thing I regret is I should have kept the name … I should have owned the name.” Because the band members — Harry Styles, Zayn, Niall Horan, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson — own the rights to the name One Direction, Cowell would not be able to use it for any sort of spinoff project without their permission. “That’s the problem.

Could have made an animation or whatever, but when you give an artist the name, it’s not yours — and that’s my only regret,” Cowell said. “If you’re listening, I’ll buy it back from you,” he said, then laughing. “If one of the band members, for whatever reason, say they don’t want to tour, it can stop the others [from] touring.

So, if it was me who owned the name, it wouldn’t be a problem,” Cowell said, insinuating that if he had the rights to the name, he could try to organize a One Direction reunion tour regardless of each member’s involvement.