TMZ exec defends decision to publish photos of Liam Payne's body

The world was left in shock after news broke that One Direction singer Liam Payne had died after falling from the third-floor balcony of his hotel room in Buenos Aries on Wednesday afternoon local time. TMZ was one of the first to report the shocking news and left fans horrified after sharing images of his body.

The site shared photos showing the singer's tattoos as a means of identifying him, writing, "TMZ obtained a photo showing Liam's body on a wooden deck at the hotel with tables and chairs nearby. We're not showing the whole body, but you can clearly see his tattoos — a clock on his left forearm, and a scorpion on his abdomen."

Fans on social media were quick to slam the gossip site, with one user writing on X, "There was no need to include those pictures."

"Y’all are insane for exposing his lifeless body in this article without cause or warning," another said.

"Respect his family, friends and fans. Delete that picture," someone else added.

TMZ responds to criticism after sharing photos of Liam Payne's body

TMZ removed the images of the One Direction singer's body after facing backlash online and responded to the criticism on Fox 5 New York.

Executive producer for TMZ, Michael Babcock, was questioned about the backlash. He said, "There's a balance, and that's obviously a conversation that newsrooms across the world have – you want to be sensitive to the family and to the friends and also while working a news story."

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Babcock added, "When the information was coming in, police had not yet confirmed that it was Liam, so what was done on the TMZ website, 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 recognisable tattoos, so that's sort of used as a way to confirm, or to match up the tattoos at a point where police had not yet confirmed his identity. And then, once they did, obviously, that photo was removed.

"I mean, it's just a terribly horrific and sad story. It's something obviously that shouldn't have happened, and this guy had so much life left to live and you feel horrible for everybody."

Social media slams TMZ over response to criticism

Liam's fans on social media weren't convinced by the response, with one user writing in the comments on YouTube, "Are they really still trying to justify putting pictures of a dead body on their website?"

"TMZ is disgraceful and disgusting and have no respect whatsoever and didn’t even bother to apologise for posting those horrendous pictures!!! Will never watch them again!!" another said.

"[It's] not TMZ's job to 'identify' the body," a third said. "That is the job of the police/coroner to confirm. Revolting way to justify."

"Showing ANY part of him, whether to confirm his identity or not is in INCREDIBLY bad taste," someone else added.

"The real issue is who from the staff at the hotel or medical team sold the original image," another said. "None of the public had access to that specific view point at that time. Snapping that picture on your phone and selling it is grossly immoral."

"Way to not take accountability and apologise," one user said.

"Sorry but you should never ever put a photo of a dead celeb body on your website," yet another wrote. "They have family and in this case he has a 7 year old son. Be respectful!"

Liam Payne's rise to fame

Liam rose to fame through the boy band One Direction after the group was formed on The X-Factor UK in 2010, and was comprised of himself, Niall, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik.

The band went on an indefinite hiatus in 2016 and Liam subsequently established a solo career releasing two EPS and one studio album, ‘LP1’.

“The day the band ended, I was like, ‘Thank the Lord’,” he told The Diary Of A CEO podcast in 2022. “I know a lot of people are going to be mad at me for saying that, but I needed to stop or it would kill me.”

He is father to son Bear, who was born in 2017, from his previous relationship with singer Cheryl Cole. He began dating his girlfriend, influencer Kate Cassidy, in October 2022.

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