Capitalising on Grief

On October 16th 2024 hearts shattered and the world became a darker, sadder and more solemn place. Liam Payne was a household name as one fifth of boyband One Direction and the best selling debut single of anyone coming out of a boyband. His debut single Strip That Down was a sensation that rocked the airwaves and brought him a whole new swath of fans. Liam was bright, light and the heart and soul of the One Direction fandom over the years. He loved loudly and proudly- never ashamed of his time in the band or his love for his brothers and Zayn. 

When Liam passed the circumstances were suspicious to say the least and fans noticed several inconsistencies in the stories that were told about how he passed. Fans called out for answers, and still to this day are begging the Argentinian government to open the devices of the parties involved in Liam’s life just prior to his passing. His death was reported as a drug fueled binge gone awry as he allegedly had alcohol, sertraline and cocaine in his system, but when you look closer at the story that was put out, the rapidity of TMZ to release images of his deceased corpse and the story of how he fell three stories, yet managed to be unconscious as he fell yet sustained 25 injuries to his head and person which doesn’t add up with how he was found, why he was moved or why there has been so many stories released about his last moments. 

When Liam passed fans were left devastated and reeling from how the media presented their idol and after months of negative press, a jilted former PUBLIC fiance claiming he abused her and his current PUBLIC girlfriend abandoning him in Argentina days before his death to never return, even though she claimed afterwards that he wanted to marry her and that she only left him because of her love for their shared dog Nala. Not once in multiple press interviews, including one she scheduled in December (not even two months after his death) with the Sun Newspaper. Anyone with a brain knows the kind of gutter journalism the Sun offers and when the interview went live fans were left aghast as Kate Cassidy called Liam’s death an accident. 

She never once in all the time since Liam’s death and it’s been almost eight months commented on the multiple inconsistencies surrounding the story of his death, nor did she ask for justice, in fact she’s made the dog, Nala a tiktok and has been using Liam’s death as a way of making fans of his feel sorry for her. She has not once talked about Liam’s mental health in October, which fans were seriously concerned about and were trying to raise awareness of. Nor has she commented on the weight the false abuse allegations or what Maya Henry was putting Liam through. 

Maya outed Liam in an article, has consistently claimed he abused her yet provided zero evidence to back up her claims and has commented on a story by a podcaster who said that someone reached out to her with a story that they couldn’t share after a woman reached out to them and provided messages about Liam that then turned out to be fake and the story couldn’t be verified. Maya then commented on the story that the podcaster shared claming that she never made anything up and it was all a conspiracy. Images will be attached bellow. 

Maya after the article depicting the relationship she allegedly had with Liam where she claimed he was an addict and that she loved him despite that- yet spent the last six months of his life bullying him relentlessly and sending hate mob after hate mob after him. She claimed he abused her and that she had evidence she couldn’t share online, but was happy to speak on TikToks about this alleged abuse without seeking legal advice and then sending Liam a Cease and Desist that wasn’t worth the paper it was printed on. She didn’t get a restraining order because to be granted a restraining order proof of abuse and harassment would need to be presented to a judge so this is telling as Maya claimed that Liam was contacting her relentlessly. After months of fans asking she finally deleted the spurious Tiktok’s about Liam and his alleged abuse of her. Abuse that she wrote about in a fictional story while studying at NYU and stated that Liam encouraged her to write it, not knowing that she would try everything to link it to his name and drag his reputation into the mud. 

Not once have either of the people the media claim loved Liam paid genuine tribute to him. Not once have either Maya or Kate asked for justice. My friend lost her daughter and she has done nothing since but tirelessly and relentlessly fight to get justice for her daughter- yet Kate who claims Liam was her soulmate has used his name for views, has sold stories to the media but has not once asked what happened to Liam. When three of the suspects were released she said nothing. When it came out that all the evidence hadn’t been examined- she said nothing, yet she’s trying to claim the number 4 as if it has anything to do with her when in fact Liam got the number four tattoo in 2016- 8 years before he met Kate so whoever that number is significant to it’s certainly not Kate Cassidy. 

She brought an influencer to his funeral, talked about Mental Health and is trying to play advocate for mental health and grieving but has not once stood up for Liam publicly. Both Maya and Kate, were I believe PR girlfriends who were with Liam for fame. Maya comes from a family who wanted to be the next Kardashians and is vapid, self absorbed and narcissistic. She bullies those who disagree and although I do not agree with calling her names or direct messaging her abuse because then the person doing so becomes as bad as Maya, abusing someone via the internet. Maya also recently shared to her stories a statement that said you never delivered the life you promised me and that speaks volumes to me about the transactional nature of the relationship she had with Liam. 

Kate, on the other hand, seemed obsessed with money and spending it. She was given $36,000 per month while with Liam in allowances and yet seemed to constantly be spending money and showing off the brands she bought with Liam’s money, so to me Kate was opportunistic. She was brought in to Liam’s life during a time when he was exceptionally vulnerable, after another wave of hate was directed towards him and she spent like there was no tomorrow. She wanted fame and is now allegedly being considered as a contestant in I’m A Celebrity- yet she’s not really a celebrity. She’s done nothing to make a name for herself other than being a celebrities PR girlfriend and yet she posts using his name to garner clicks because clicks means money on Tiktok. Her self absorption and apparent lack of ethics in constantly capitalising on her alleged grief without any empathy for his family is astounding. 

When you love someone and you lose them to murder you never stop fighting for them. Liam’s family don’t speak out about their grief. His closest friends don’t speak about their grief. His former bandmates don’t speak about their grief and yet the person who in the eyes of the world was supposed to be his partner monetizes her alleged grief without ever showing any real compassion for what he suffered, what his last days entailed and besmirches his legacy with falsehoods claiming he was her soulmate and claiming that he wanted to marry her when there is zero evidence to support that. 

Liam was unhappy, sad and broken in the last months of his life. He suffered online bullying relentlessly for years, over and over again, yet when he died people realised how much of an incredible light he was. He deserves now to rest in peace and his family and loved ones deserve to get justice for how he died. He does not deserve to be used in death as a prop for a merry widow to gain financially from his death and he deserves to be freed from the allegations placed on him while he was alive. 

It’s time fans stopped believing someone just because the media tells them to and open their eyes to the real suffering and pain that those in the music industry go through. They do what they have to do to survive and sometimes it’s not enough. Sometimes the louder you love and the braver you are just leads to hate, negative headlines and people believing the worst of you. Something similar is happening to Justin Beiber just now and it’s harrowing to watch. I just hope that Justin is strong enough and has the love of his people to help him battle this unsurmountable goliath that’s trying to take him down and that he survives because we’ve lost too many stars, too young and it’s devastating. People need to remember that stars are real people who suffer as we do. Their lives are different but they have problems just like you and I and no one is immune to toxic hate and misinformation being spread about them and their character so it has to stop. 

Kate I don’t know if you’ll see this, probably not, but please, please stop using Liam in your Tiktok’s, stop lying about the number 4 being your number when his fans know it wasn’t and please for the love of all that’s holy, shut down the Tiktok for the dog. It’s inhumane to use an animal as a vessel for money making and it’s incredibly disrespectful to Liam that you are using an animal to get more cash based on the connection the dog had to Liam. 

Leave Liam alone and let him rest in peace. If you want to grieve Liam, do it away from social media and if you really cared at all about Liam then ask for justice publicly for him. Use your platform for good instead of vapid, self absorbed content that makes you look heartless and cruel. 

And Maya, please tell the truth about Liam. He was not who you claimed he was and you were a stunt. He never promised you fame and it’s not his to deliver. Fan’s have a mind of their own and you being so narcissistic and unkind is why fans disliked you, more so after you went after him time and again. Enough is enough. The only people you are hurting now is the people Liam loved and who really loved him. 

This article is my opinion and I will always, always stand for Liam. He deserved better and people should have realised that he was a good man before we lost him as we did. I’m not claiming he was an angel, I know he wasn’t but Maya lied time and again about the book and he does not deserve to be remembered as an abuser when there wasn’t a shred of evidence that he’d done a thing wrong to Maya. 

At the end of the day you need to look at Liam’s actions, him stating that it costs nothing to be kind, going to support the One Direction boys when he could and loudly and proudly proclaiming his love for them and the band. Liam was one of a kind and he is irreplaceable but I just wish he knew how loved he really was before he died. 

To the fans, proclaim your love for your favourite singers/actors and the things you love loudly and proudly. Fight like hell for them because tomorrow isn’t promised. Don’t let your favourite people die feeling lost, alone and unloved because that’s a scar you can’t pick off and the guilt never leaves. So fight back when the media turn on your favourite people because no one deserves to die as Liam did. So please, keep fighting for Liam and keep demanding answers and justice. 

Thanks for reading

Behind the curtains