People are lashing out out Zayn Malik after he asked fans to donate to a family friend in order to fund her cancer treatment. Having a rumoured net worth of around $40 million, they're wondering why he isn't forking out the relatively small sum himself. 

Zayn Malik pictured at pre-Grammy galaZayn Malik pictured at pre-Grammy gala

The 'Pillow Talk' singer opened up about his mother's best friend's plight on Twitter, directing followers to a GoFundMe page expaining that the 47-year-old single mother named Ayesha Daniels was battling lung cancer that had spread to her brain and needed life-saving medicine to the amount of £120,000 (around $155,000 USD).

Her only hope right now is a clinic called ChemoThermia in Istanbul that offers a range of cutting edge cancer treatments and has seen a massive 82% patients have their lives extended by three and a half years. She reveals that she has already saved £35,000 ($45,000 USD), with friends willing to foot the costs for travel and accommodation, but she still needs help from charitable strangers to help her reach her £120,000 goal.

'This is my Mums best friend', said Zayn on Twitter. 'Please help in any way possible.' So far, Ayesha has managed to raise £15,170 ($19,500 USD), but those who have followed the story are wondering why Zayn can't just dip into his millions and pay for the treatment himself. 

'Aren't you like super rich?' One follower responded, with another saying: 'He could have completely paid for it he's rich'. Others suggested that he didn't have as much money as you might think because of 'how the industry works', and more assumed that he had already made a significant financial contribution, though as of yet there's no proof of this. 

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Ayesha has addressed the recent backlash, defending Zayn whom she refers to as her 'nephew', and explaining that she had asked him to publicise the page on Twitter. 'This has had an adverse effect for him as the spiteful trolls are attacking him for his kindness', she said in an update on her GoFundMe page. 'Never, ever would I ask him for financial help in any way, and I wouldn't want it any other way. My request was for him to enlighten the public of my sad plight and he did exactly as I asked. So come on all you trolls, give him a break please and let's just get on with the fundraising.'