Nightmarish Images Go Viral of Liam Payne's 'Drug-Strewn' Hotel Room: White Powder, Foil in Bath, Glass Pipes, Charred Matches — and Shattered TV
Oct. 17 2024, Updated 6:56 a.m. ET
Chilling images from inside Liam Payne's hotel room have gone viral, hours after his death was confirmed.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the pictures show a smashed TV screen, screwed up burnt aluminium foil in a bathtub, plus white powder and other drug paraphernalia scattered over a wooden surface.
A half-drunk glass of what appeared to be champagne and another empty glass beside it had been left next to the broken television.
The pictures may not be genuine but they have been spread widely online.
Payne was staying in the $300-a-night Casa Sur Palermo in Buenos Aires when he fell to his death from a third floor balcony aged just 31.
He was in Argentina to watch ex-One Direction band-mate Niall Horan, 31, perform in concert.
Before his death, Payne had been acting erratically in the hotel foyer and smashed his laptop.
He had to be carried back into his room, according to local media.
Staff made a panicked call to police reporting a "man aggressive man who may have been under the effects of drugs and alcohol."
Police are reportedly planning to investigate who supplied Payne with the drugs which may be linked to his death if tests confirm narcotics were found in his room.
The singer had previously been open about his battle with addiction, namely drugs.
In 2021, while speaking on Stephen Bartlett's Diary of a CEO podcast, he described a period he termed his "pills and booze phase," pointing to images where he appeared visibly bloated.
He explained: "My face was 10 times bigger than it is now. The problem was, the best way to secure us was to lock us in a room, and what is in the room? A minibar."
Payne admitted this environment led to what felt like a perpetual party for one, spanning years.
Reflecting on this period, Payne said: "And then you look back how long you've been drinking and stuff, and you're like, Jesus Christ, that's a long time. Even for someone who's as young as I was. It was wild.”
Payne described the restrictive nature of their fame, stating: "It was like, the only way you could get frustration out in the day or being trapped… And, you know, I spoke about to somebody about this and in child development as a teen, the one thing you need is, is freedom to make choices and freedom to do stuff."
He further elaborated on the repetitive nature of the boyband’s lives, saying: "And it was the one thing that, although we could do anything we wanted, it seemed from the outside that we were always locked in a room at night.
"And then it will be car, hotel, room, stage, sing. So it was like, they pulled the dust cloth off, let us out for a minute, and then, woohoo.
"And then it’s like back underneath it, and I’m like, gah."
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