Justin Bieber Thinks One Direction Picked His Album Release Date for Publicity

The war of the release date between Justin Bieber's Purpose and One Direction's Made in the A.M. still rages on - and we're still over a month away. In a new interview, the "What Do You Mean?" singer further threw shade at the "Drag Me Down" boy band, claiming they chose the Nov. 13 release date after he did for publicity.

In a new interview with a New Zealand radio station (via MTV), Bieber said that he believes One Direction's upcoming hiatus made the boy band rethink its media strategy for its fifth studio album, and it involved a feud with a fellow teen icon.

"[One Direction] is not really going on the road much, but we're talking about them right now, so it gives them some promo, right? So, that's probably why they did it," Bieber said about the shared release date. "I think it was strategy on their part because my release date was first. But whatever. It's whatever. It's going to be fun. I'm excited to see what happens."

Bieber's comments are just the latest shot fired in the (friendly) war of the Nov. 13 release date. Last month, the 21-year-old pop star tried to intimidate 1D on Snapchat, saying that when you have the same release date as Justin Bieber, you should be scared.

LMFAO I HATE HIM. pic.twitter.com/t4K2MmoNuT

—Justin Bieber Stan (@naturalIy) September 29, 2015

But, One Direction's Louis Tomlinson wasn't so scared. Instead, he mocked Bieber's snap by bragging about 1D's four sold out shows at London's famous O2 Arena.

Both Made in the A.M. and Purpose will arrive in stores on Friday, Nov. 13.