In a tragic incident, One Direction band member Liam Payne reportedly died on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, after a fall from a third-floor hotel room in Buenos Aires, Argentina. According to CNN, Payne fell from the hotel room window. The police reportedly received a 911 call about an aggressive man at the hotel, possibly under the influence of drugs or alcohol, before Liam Payne fell out the window.
In the wake of his death, Argentina media allegedly began airing what they purported to be crime scene photos. This has triggered widespread backlash online. The alleged images showed the disarrayed state of Payne’s hotel room in CasaSur Palermo hotel.
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Triggger Warning: It should be noted they are unverified images allegedly circulated by Argentina media
Per multiple outlets, Payne landed in Argentina on September 30 with his girlfriend, Kate Cassidy. The 31-year-old, who had embarked on a successful solo career after the group went on a hiatus in 2015, attended his former bandmate Niall Horan’s concert on October 2, before his death. Payne reportedly checked into CasaSur Palermo hotel after Cassidy left on October 14, 2024 (via TMZ).
While several fans mourned the devastating loss on social media, others were disturbed by the alleged crime scene photos of the hotel room, circulated by Argentina media. The alleged images from Payne’s room showed what appeared to be drugs strewn on the table and a bathroom sink.
The hotel television also showed evidence of damage. Many social media users were astounded that Argentina media began circulating unverified images of the victim’s room shortly after the tragedy.
As the images began making rounds on the internet, many questioned the veracity of the pictures. In response, a social media user alleged:
“Argentinian news outlets put out these images.”
Another added on X:
"Well believe it’s pretty common to show crime scenes in Latin America"
A social media user noted:
"This looks so disturbing."
Several others shared similar reactions.
Liam Payne struggled with substance abuse issues for years
Three years before his death, Liam Payne revealed he had struggled with substance use issues. In 2021, on the Diary of a CEO podcast, Payne opened up about the struggle with depression and addiction during his time with One Direction. At the time, he said:
“Yeah. There is some stuff that I have definitely never spoken about. It was really, really, really severe. It was a problem. And it was only until I saw myself after that I was like, ‘Right, I need to fix myself,'” (Via Billboard).
Liam Payne revealed he struggled with substance issues for many years after he started abusing alcohol and other drugs out of boredom and stress that stemmed from being locked inside a hotel room for hours alongside his other band mates from One Direction. Payne said the intense security to keep the band safe involved locking them inside their hotel room. He added:
“The problem was, in the band … the best way to secure us, because of how big we’d got, was just to lock us in our rooms. What’s in the room? A minibar. So at a certain point, I just thought, ‘Well, I’m going to have a party for one,’ and that just seemed to carry on throughout many years of my life.”
In May 2023, Liam Payne celebrated 100 days of sobriety.
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