One Direction fans have been sending aggressive hate mail to the US band of the same name.
The Californian five-piece have faced an angry backlash over their copyright breach lawsuit against the ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ hitmakers and are appalled by some of the messages they have received.
Singer Sean O’Leary – whose father Dan manages the band – told The Sun newspaper: "There has been so much hate mail, like people threatening to cut our b***s off.
"The one that stands out for me is a girl saying she wanted to kill my father."
The US band have filed a copyright infringement claim in California, seeking three times the profits earned by the UK based band and $1 million compensation because they insist they own the rights to the name One Direction in America.
Their lawsuit claims the UK group’s record companies were aware of the fact the two bands had the same name as early as 2011 but chose to ignore this fact.
Meanwhile, the British One Direction – who shot to fame after coming second on UK reality TV show ‘The X Factor’ in 2010 – have announced a string of arena shows in North America for 2013.
The 30-date tour kicks off in Ft. Lauderdale on June 13 and ends in Los Angeles on August 7.
Revealing the plans, singer Liam Payne said: "We’re about to announce a bigger tour and more dates in 2013, so that’s the big announcement.
"I said on twitter the other day that there was going to be some big news and that’s the big news. You guys will be seeing us live across America in 2013 in a big arena tour. So woo-hoo!"
One Direction’s 2013 US tour dates:
June 13 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL BankAtlantic Centre
June 14 – Miami, FL American Airlines Arena
June 18 – Columbus, OH Nationwide Arena
June 19 – Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena
June 21 – Atlanta, GA Philips Arena
June 22 – Raleigh, NC PNC Arena (formerly RBC Arena)
June 23 – Washington, DC Verizon Centre
June 26 – Boston, MA Comcast Centre
June 28 – Wantagh, NY Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
July 4 – Montreal, PQ Bell Centre
July 6 – Hershey, PA Hersheypark Stadium
July 8 – Pittsburgh, PA Consol Energy Centre
July 9 – Toronto, Ontario Air Canada Centre
July 12 – Detroit, MI The Palace of Auburn Hills
July 13 – Chicago, IL First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
July 18 – Minneapolis, MN Target Centre
July 19 – Kansas City, MO Sprint Centre
July 24 – Denver, CO Pepsi Centre
July 25 – Salt Lake City, UT Maverick Centre
July 27 – Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena
July 28 – Seattle, WA KeyArena
July 31 – Oakland, CA Oracle Arena
August 2 – Las Vegas, NV Mandalay Bay Events Centre
August 6 – San Diego, CA Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre
August 7 – Los Angeles, CA Staples Centre