OVER the last week the coverage of Liam Payne’s tragic death has been inescapable.
It appears that Liam died after falling from a third-floor balcony of the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires. It was devastating.
Traditionally with news like this you would hear via an announcement on the television or see it on the front page of a newspaper. But I found out about Liam’s death whilst scolling on X - confronted with images of the partial corpse of a young man– images that will stay with me forever.
People have always been mesmerised by the morbid – so much so that others have begun to profit off it. Between the ‘Museum of Death’ in Hollywood and the ‘Haunted Mansion’ tours where people can ogle at the houses of former stars who passed away in their homes, it is a thriving business.
It therefore makes sense that the media is keen to cater to the seemingly insatiable macabre appetite of the masses and social media has only amplified this due to people’s compulsion to like, comment and share such content.
It’s evident that times have changed in relation to the handling of celebrity deaths. There is a distinct lack of compassion and respect. For example, in 1997 when Princess Diana was in a fatal car crash it’s likely there were photographers on site taking pictures but the difference back then was there were no editors who would publish them because of the invasive and inappropriate nature of the images. Now, however, that doesn’t seem to be an issue as we’ve seen with TMZ’s horrific handling of the tragedy...
I admit that alongside the sadness and anger I had towards the soulless media machine, I’ve also been feeling guilty. For the last few months Liam has been a hot topic of conversation on social media but much of the content has been unkind to say the least.
Clever, creative and funny but Liam was always the butt of the joke. It’s clear he struggled after One Direction went on an indefinite hiatus in 2016 and was determined to stay in the spotlight. Although he did manage to maintain relevance it was not for the right reasons. After the band’s split he appeared on various podcasts and engaged in several interviews in which he told stories and made comments which ultimately led to him becoming one of the internet’s favourite memes.
To be fair, it was difficult not to scoff at his self-assurance. But while all seemed to be intended as a bit of harmless ‘banter’, I am now wondering how it must have felt to have been ribbed so relentlessly and how easily we find it to poke fun and criticise celebrities with little consideration of the fact that they are human too.
Arguably Liam was always going to be a poorly chosen target for such ruthless mocking given his struggles with alcohol and drugs – which he was always very open about.
Back in 2019 he made a programme called Liam Payne and Ant Middleton: Straight Talking, where he discussed his substance abuse: “For some certain circumstances – I’m quite lucky to be here still, which is something I’ve never really shared with anyone.
“I can’t go too deep into it because I don’t know how I feel myself. I still haven’t made my peace with it, to be honest. There’re times where that level of loneliness and people getting into you every day. Just every so often, you’re like, ‘when will this end?’” Which, upon reflection, is extremely poignant and clearly demonstrates his fragility.
Unfortunately, Liam isn’t the first celebrity to struggle with the fickleness of fame as we’ve seen with the likes of Caroline Flack, Amy Winehouse and Whitney Houston. To be under such scruntiy from all sides all the time would take a tole on anyone regardless of their status, wealth or reputation.
Journalists are bound by codes of conduct and ethics but these days where anyone can be a reporter (because, as we’ve witnessed, unfolding events can be immediately communicated to millions) boundaries and restrictions are blurred, privacy is ignored, and lives (and deaths) are raked over without consideration or compassion.
Today’s fame is a ruthless beast and sadly Liam Payne won’t be its last victim.