Images from inside tragic singer Liam Payne‘s hotel room show white powder, foil, empty champagne glasses and a smashed TV.
Liam passed away on Wednesday at the age of 31. The former One Direction star was pronounced dead after he fell from the third floor of a hotel in the Palermo neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Pictures showing his hotel room were published by Argentinian media hours after the father of one’s death. News outlets, including La Nacion and Clarin, confirmed the photos, showing traces of a white powder believed to be cocaine and burnt aluminium foil as well as a smashed TV, were taken inside Liam’s room at the upmarket Hotel CasaSur Palermo.
It has been reported that if tests confirm narcotics were found in his room, police will plan to investigate who supplied the singer with drugs as being linked to his death. La Nacion reported, following the emergence of a 911 call from a hotel manager telling the operator a guest was “off his head on drink and drugs”.
The publication suggested the damage to the TV screen had been caused by a blow from a heavy object or someone’s fist.
A Dove soap packet, an empty glass, pieces of aluminium foil, the remains of a burnt candle and the burnt top of a drinks can were also clearly visible in the photo on top of a desk in the room along with traces of a white powder authorities will test to confirm suspicions it could be cocaine.
La Nacion reported remains of wax and a piece of scrunched-up burnt aluminium foil were also found in the bathroom. Clarin said on its website in a news report alongside the photos it published: “Damage and drugs in the hotel room Liam Payne was staying in in Buenos Aires.”
The late singer previously spoke candidly about his battles with addiction, confessing that he had experienced “severe suicidal thoughts” and was heavily into drugs during his One Direction days.
Speaking in the Diary of a CEO podcast in 2021, he said: “There is some stuff that I have definitely never, 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.'”.
Liam, who had a seven-year-old son with his ex Cheryl Cole, recalled seeing photos of himself on a boat looking “all bloated out”. He referred to it as his “pills-and-booze face”.
He said: “My face was just, like, 10 times more than it is now. I just didn’t like myself very much, and then I made a change.”
In a candid chat with Men’s Health Australia in 2019, Payne admitted he struggled with fame and often resorted to alcohol to cope.
He said: “It’s almost like putting the Disney costume on before you step up on stage and underneath the Disney costume I was pissed quite a lot of the time because there was no other way to get your head around what was going on. I mean, it was fun. We had an absolute blast, but there were certain parts of it where it just got a little bit toxic.”
In 2023, Payne shared a video on YouTube announcing that he had been 100 days sober following a stint in rehab.
He said: “I just kind of feel like I’ve got more of a grip on life and everything that was getting away from me, I just feel like I’ve got more of a handle on it. I just needed to take a little bit of time out for myself actually because I kind of became somebody who I didn’t really recognize anymore. And I’m sure you guys didn’t either. I was in bad shape up until that point and I was really happy to kind of put a stopper to life and work.”
*Frank offers confidential advice about drugs and addiction (email [email protected], message 82111 or call 0300 123 6600) or the NHS has information about getting help.
Don’t miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond – Sign up to our daily newsletter here.