Simon Cowell Addresses Liam Payne's Death and Accusation's He's 'to Blame' for the One Direction Star's Passing

Watch Simon Cowell Addresses Liam Payne's Death and Accusation's He's 'to Blame' for the One Direction Star's Passing - Rizzle on Dailymotion

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00:00Simon Cowell addresses Liam Payne's death and accusations he's to blame for the One Direction

00:06star's passing. Simon Cowell is opening up about the untimely death of Liam Payne at age 31.

00:13In a new interview, the American Idol alum shared that the news of Payne's tragic passing in 2024

00:18really hit him. Cowell, 66, signed Payne to his record label in 2010 after his audition on

00:25Britain's The X Factor. He was just 16 at the time. I saw him a year before this happened.

00:31He came over to my house. We talked about his son and being a dad. I remember saying,

00:36music is not everything. Don't let it run your life anymore. Find something else that you are

00:41passionate about, Cowell recalled to Rolling Stone. You ask yourself that question, could I have done

00:47anything more? What would have happened to Liam if he hadn't been in the band? The star continued.

00:52Having spoken to his mom and dad recently, all they kept telling me was he was so proud of what

00:57he had achieved. I wish I could turn back the clock, of course, he confessed. When I spoke to him that

01:03day, I felt really good about him. I thought, wow, you seem in a really good place. Rolling Stone

01:09writer Brian Hyatt asked the brutally honest British television personality about social media users who

01:15cast blame on him for Payne's death. Was that hurtful? Hyatt questioned. I don't read any of this stuff

01:21because if I did, you would just torture yourself, Cowell replied. The idea that you are essentially

01:27responsible for somebody's life? Ten years after you've signed someone? You can't do that.

01:32The teen pop sensation died from extremely serious injuries after falling from the third floor of

01:37Casa Sur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on October 16, 2024. Communications director for the

01:45Buenos Aires Security Ministry, Pablo Politico told the Associated Press the Sunshine Singer had jumped

01:52from the balcony of his room. Prior to his passing, the hotel manager called 911 due to an aggressive man

01:58who could be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. It was later revealed he fell accidentally while in

02:04an impaired state. An autopsy showed that the singer had cocaine and alcohol in his system. The receptionist

02:10at the hotel, Esteban Grassi, also called emergency services, stating, I don't know whether his life

02:15may be in danger. He is in a room with a balcony and, well, we're a little afraid. Payne, who had

02:21struggled with substance abuse for years, had been vacationing with his girlfriend, American influencer

02:26Kate Cassidy, at the time. She had left just a few days before his fatal fall. Payne had one son,

02:33Bear Gray Payne, with his ex-girlfriend, Cheryl Cole, whom they welcomed in 2017.