Liam Payne dead at 31: One Direction star 'falls to death at Argentina hotel'

Former One Direction star Liam Payne has died aged 31.

The singer, who shot to global fame with the band, plunged to his death from the third floor of a hotel in Argentina's capital, Buenos Aires.

Witnesses have described to TMZ how the celebrity was behaving unusually before his untimely passing, including smashing his laptop. He was allegedly carried back to his room from the hotel.

The outlet managed to get photos showing his body on a wooden deck, where his distinctive tattoos were visible.

Liam recently faced severe criticism and backlash after his ex-girlfriend, Maya Henry, started sharing details of alleged mistreatment during their relationship. Lawyers informed the DailyMail about Maya's legal steps, stating: "Maya Henry issued a cease and desist last week to Liam Payne following the emergence of new and concerning information. She has retained attorneys Marco Crawford and Daniel Cerna to represent her. At this time, that is her only comment on the matter."

On TikTok, Maya expressed her frustration, saying: "Ever since we broke up he messages me, will blow up my phone, not only from his phone, it's always from different phone numbers too, so I never know where it's gonna come from. He'll create new iCloud accounts to message me - it's always a new damn iCloud account. Every time I see one pop up on my phone I'm like, 'here we f---ing go again.'" She continued, "Also, he will email me... not only me, but he'll blow up my mom's phone. Is this normal behavior to you? ".

She also levelled accusations at Liam for exploiting One Direction's fanbase through his constant stream of revenue-generating Snapchat content "because they're loyal to him."

Furthermore, within a TikTok comment section, Maya alleged that he has spoken badly about fellow band members in private while maintaining a facade of public solidarity and appearing at their gigs.