Hotel worker Liam Payne to be ‘fired’ after ‘giving him drugs’ | Celebrity News | Showbiz and television

Former One Direction star Liam Payne died after falling from the third floor balcony of a hotel in Argentina.

Local police said the 31-year-old fell into the courtyard of the Casa Sur Hotel in the Palermo district of Buenos Aires before doctors confirmed his death.

According to police in the capital, officers initially responded to reports “of an aggressive man who may have been under the influence of drugs and alcohol.”

Voice notes reportedly sent by staff at the hotel have been leaked on social media, with one “staff member” warning: “I don’t know how this is going to end.”

In one clip, a supposed employee can be heard claiming that Liam was alone in the hotel and was “trying to get drugs.”

The audio message said: “I just left work. The guy had been at the hotel for about a week. About drugs and alcohol. [He was] He was left alone for about two seconds and went to get drugs. He couldn’t get her.

“No one paid attention to him… The room was a disaster. Drugs everywhere. We wanted to throw him out of the hotel, but we couldn’t.”

The “employee” claimed that a hotel employee had supplied Liam with drugs. They continued: “The employee has been identified and will be terminated. The hotel is a disaster at the moment. I don’t know how this will end.”

Another audio recording from a cleaning staff reportedly claimed Liam “passed out in the lobby” before being taken to his room. They also said Liam apologized for the “mess” in his room before falling off the balcony.

Pictures showed shocked fans gathering outside the hotel after police cordoned off the area, with forensic investigators in white hazmat suits and blue gloves seen entering and leaving.

Fans were photographed lighting candles and leaving flowers on the side of the road in an impromptu vigil to pay tribute to the music star.

Earlier this week, it was widely reported that his ex-fiancée, Maya Henry, had filed a lawsuit and reportedly issued a cease-and-desist letter over repeated contact.

The US model, who was engaged to Payne from August 2020 until their split was announced in June 2021, claimed in a recent TikTok video that the singer had been “blowing up my phone” from various numbers since their split.

In the hours before his death, a video was posted on Payne’s Snapchat account saying, “It’s a beautiful day here in Argentina.”

Earlier this month, Payne attended bandmate Horan’s Argentinian concert with his girlfriend Kate Cassidy.

Britain’s Got Talent also announced that auditions for the show would be postponed following Payne’s death. A spokesman for program producer Freemantle UK said: “Due to the tragic death of Liam Payne, we have decided to postpone the Britain’s Got Talent auditions. Our thoughts are with Liam’s friends, family and everyone who loved him.

Payne formed the boy band One Direction in 2010 alongside Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Harry Styles after they individually auditioned for The X Factor.

After becoming one of the biggest pop groups in the world with five albums and four world tours, they went on an indefinite hiatus in 2016.

Payne previously said he struggled with alcoholism at the height of his success with One Direction, describing to The Diary Of A CEO podcast host Steven Bartlett that he had hit “rock bottom”.

He admitted that his alcohol addiction continued during the Covid pandemic, but posted a YouTube video in 2023 in which he confirmed that he had been sober for almost six months after nearly 100 days in a US rehab facility.

Payne had a high-profile relationship with Girls Aloud singer Cheryl between 2016 and 2018 and the couple had a son, Bear, in 2017.