1 The biggest flaw in the New Team/Old Team theory is that when you are contracted by a mgmt company you can't sign with someone else. Modest had the exclusive so 1D signing with Azoff (Irving or Jeff) would have been a breach of the contract, something that could lead the boys to lose their money. In no way the team in charge would have accepted an intervention from another team. It's simply not how it works. On the other side, Harry and the others could hang out with whoever they wanted to,
2 and that's why Harry spent so much time with the Azoffs. There is a real friendship there that probably did lead Harry to feel more comfortbale to sign with Jeff when the contract with Modest expired.
I agree with you completely, and wanted to add this to my post on the OT/NT theory, but I lack an outside link for evidence. Do you happen to have references or sources on exclusivity clauses in contracts that could be included in this proof?
This is why I mostly relied on precedence, because I feel that if this were permissible then other artists would indulge in it, but I don’t know of any who have, and no one has brought any to my attention.
I also completely agree that if the others in 1D were seen hanging around with the Azoffs it would lend more credence to OT/NT theory, but we have NOT seen that, not in the past nor in the present. There is no reason to hide or otherwise obfuscate a friendship of Louis, Niall, or Liam with the Azoffs if they are friends or associates, only to “reveal” a connection at a later date. I have not known Irving to do that, and again, I’m seeking and sought examples of him doing this in the past with other acts he has managed and have not been provided any.