Zayn Malik was involved in a heated argument outside a bar in New York

According to TMZ, who obtained a video of the incident, the man eventually lunged for Zayn - who was shirtless - and called him a homophobic slur.

The bar's co-owner told The New York Post's Page Six: "Zayn is in here a lot and we absolutely love having him. He was here for a few hours playing pool and ping-pong with a bunch of people, and there were no problems.

“I heard that the [scuffle] started over the guy wanting a photo, but I’m not sure. It happened outside. We gave him an Amsterdam Billiards T-shirt and are bummed he wasn’t wearing it outside."

There was no physical altercation between Zayn and the other man.

Meanwhile, Zayn and his partner Gigi Hadid, 26, welcomed their daughter Khai together last September and Zayn recently revealed that had been enjoying spending some quiet time together as a family.

He said: "Right now, because we have the kid and stuff, I spend a lot of time with my little girl and my missus. We hang out a lot together but when I can get the evening to myself, I try to come over and do a bit of writing and Gi is really cool about it. It has been easy. She’s wicked."