TMZ Explains Their Use Of Liam Payne's Photos

Photos released by TMZ after Liam Payne's fall off of a balcony brought lots of controversy.Photo byphoto by Getty Images

TMZ has spoken out about the controversy of showing photos of One Direction singer Liam Payne after he fell from a 3^rd floor balcony in Argentina. Many felt it was inappropriate and over the top, but a representative of TMZ said they did it for a reason.

TMZ's Executive Producer of their website, Michael Babcock, said that the photos were purely for identification purposes to prove to readers it was really him and to confirm their story. Babcock told media outlets, "Police had not yet confirmed that it was Liam; there was an image—did not show the full image, didn't show his face—but that showed his arm and his abdomen, where he has some very recognizable tattoos, so that's sort of used as a way to confirm or to match up the tattoos.”.

Even though they did take the photos down, they are now circulating on other sites, including Spanish-speaking sites. The investigation into Payne's passing is still going on.