Before British pop celebrity Liam Payne plunged to his death at an Argentine hotel Wednesday, hotel staffers had begged authorities to come deal with a man who had “overindulged in drugs and alcohol.”
After photos of the singer’s hotel room were published by Argentina’s largest newspaper on Thursday, it was easy to see why.
The remains of what appear to be drugs and drug paraphernalia were visible in the room, La Nacion reported, according to the New York Post, and the room itself, in the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, had been badly damaged.
The pictures “reportedly show a smashed television, a half-empty glass of what appeared to be champagne, and foil and powder scattered across Payne’s third-floor room,” according to the Post.
Payne, a one-time member of the boy band One Direction, was found dead outside the hotel Wednesday evening. He had apparently fallen or jumped from the balcony of his room.
The U.K. Sun reported that news reports had confirmed the photos were taken after Payne’s body was found:
Payne, 31, had battled addiction to alcohol and prescription drugs, both in his One Direction days and during his solo career, according to the Toronto Sun.
Do you listen to Liam Payne’s music?
He had been in rehab twice, according to the New York Post, and had indicated suicidal thoughts before.
The pictures published by La Nacion caused a social media storm, especially because Payne’s social media posts in the days leading up to his death showed the singer leading an apparently contented life.
pics of Liam Payne’s hotel room just leaked… pic.twitter.com/b8A6tqXUUI
— axel ☔️ (@luhaxel) October 17, 2024
How many times have we got to see this happen before we realised that fame is a toxic way to live
— Mundoba (@mundobax) October 17, 2024
Liam Payne’s hotel room? What the hell happened pic.twitter.com/kCwuVTSPxp
— b (@croatianbarbs) October 16, 2024
NBC News, meanwhile, reported that before Payne’s death, a staffer at CasaSur had called authorities to report that Payne was out of control.
“We have a guest who is overindulged in drugs and alcohol and … Well, when he is conscious he breaks, he is breaking the whole room. Well, we need you to send someone, please,” the staffer said, according to NBC, which was quoting a report by Spanish-language news outlet Telemundo.
“The guest is in a room that has a balcony and, well, we are a little afraid that he might do something life-threatening,” the staffer said.
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