Boy George admits comment about Liam Payne before his death wasn't 'very nice': 'I felt like he was out of control'

The "Karma Chameleon" singer said that he was "quite tearful" after learning of the One Direction singer's death.

Boy George is looking back at a remark he made about Liam Payne prior to the One Direction star’s death at age 31.

The Culture Club frontman reflected on a not “very nice” comment that he’d left on a social media post about Payne just days before the “Story of My Life” songwriter fatally fell from a third-floor balcony of a Buenos Aires hotel last month.

“In the case of Liam Payne, I watched him a few days before it happened. I remember watching online, and I’d actually put a message under a post saying, ‘He’s off his nut,’ which wasn’t very nice but I felt it,” Boy George explained during an episode of the High Performance podcast published on Thursday. “I felt like he was out of control.”

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Related: Rita Ora chokes up while honoring Liam Payne at MTV Europe Music Awards

When he later learned of Payne’s death, the “Karma Chameleon” singer said that he was completely taken by surprise. “When it happened, it just hit me,” he said. “The same way that Amy Winehouse hit me, because it felt so senseless.”

He continued, “I was up at 5 in the morning and it came up on the American news and I was literally like, ‘What the f---?’ I was literally like, ‘No, this isn’t real.’ I couldn’t take it in. I think everybody felt like that.”

Boy George went on to pen two separate tributes to Payne on social media following his passing. “How sad is the death of Liam Payne,” he wrote on X. “Just awful news to wake up to. God bless his family. I am absolutely shocked. R.I.P.”

On his Instagram account, he posted a photo of Payne with the caption, “You can absolutely have a broken heart over someone you don’t know. This is the saddest news ever. #ripliam.”

While speaking on the podcast, Boy George noted that he was “appalled by people’s comments” in response to his posts. “Somebody tweeted to me: ‘You only care because he’s good-looking,'" he said. "I think, 'F--- off. You’re an idiot. No, actually, I care about his family.'”

Referencing Payne's father Geoff, who arrived in Buenos Aires shortly after his son's death, he added, "I watched the dad. Heartbreaking. I was quite tearful about it. I really felt very sad.”

Related: 3 people charged in death of One Direction singer Liam Payne, Argentine authorities say

Earlier this month, Argentina's National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor's Office announced that three people have been charged in connection with Payne’s death.

While they did not identify any of the suspects by name, authorities described one of them as “the person who accompanied the artist on a daily basis during his stay.” They have since been charged with abandonment of a person followed by death, which can carry a five to 15 -year prison sentence. 

The other two individuals — who were described as a hotel employee and a “drug supplier" — were charged with two counts of supplying narcotics.

Payne’s private funeral was held in the U.K. on Wednesday, with his bandmates Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, and Zayn Malik all in attendance. Simon Cowell, who helped form the band on the reality singing competition The X Factor, was also present.

Listen to Boy George discuss Payne's death in the podcast above.