"Way too drunk": Hotel staff reportedly made 911 call before Liam Payne's death
Liam Payne dies after falling from hotel room
The 31-year-old former One Direction singer was found dead after falling from the hotel's third floor. According to a report from Reuters, police were called to the hotel in Buenos Aires responding to an emergency call that cited "an aggressive man who could be under the effects of drugs and alcohol."
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Moments before One Direction member Liam Payne died after reportedly jumping off an Argentina hotel balcony, a hotel manager had called police and requested help with a guest who was "way too drunk with drugs and alcohol."
Audio of the call to police has circulated on social media in the hours following Payne’s death, which sent shockwaves around the world. The Associated Press also obtained audio of the 911 call.
"We have a guest way too drunk with drugs and alcohol," the Bueno Aires hotel manager can be heard saying. "When the guest is conscious, he is breaking everything in the room. And we need you to send someone, please.
"We need you to send someone with urgency because I don’t know if his life is in danger because the guest is in a room with a balcony, and we are a bit afraid he could do something that threatens his life."
Singer Liam Payne attends the World Premiere of "I Am Bolt" at Odeon Leicester Square on November 28, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
Payne, 31, was found dead in the hotel’s courtyard. Pablo Policicchio, the communications director for the Buenos Aires Security Ministry, said in a statement to The AP that Payne "had jumped from the balcony of his room."
Payne was one of five members of One Direction, which formed after each auditioned for the British singing competition "The X Factor" in 2010, two years after Payne’s first attempt to get on the show. At 16 the second time around, Payne sang Michael Bublé’s version of "Cry Me a River," appearing nervous at the start but warming up with the audience’s cheers and applause.
Payne was known as the tousle-headed, sensible one of the quintet that went from a TV talent show to a pop phenomenon with a huge international following of swooning fans.
Payne had opened up about his mental health and addiction issues as early as 2021, according to FOX News. He told Steven Barlett on "The Diary of a CEO" podcast that many of his days were filled with "pills and booze" and he had "moments of suicidal ideation."
In recent years he had acknowledged struggling with alcoholism, saying in a YouTube video posted in July 2023 that he had been sober for six months after receiving treatment.
Dozens of One Direction fans flocked from across Buenos Aires to the Casa Sur Hotel after the news broke, forming lines that spilled into the cordoned-off street outside the hotel where police stood sentinel.
Payne is survived by his 7-year-old son, Bear Grey Payne, his parents, Geoff and Karen Payne, and his two older sisters, Ruth and Nicola.