‘
Boy George regrets leaving a comment that “wasn’t very nice” on Liam Payne’s Instagram account ahead of the One Direction singer’s death in October. He told the “High Performance” podcast that finding out Payne had died in Argentina was deeply troubling. “When it happened, it just hit me. The same way that Amy Winehouse hit me, because it felt so senseless.”
Like a lot of people, Boy George had watched Liam Payne’s deteriorating state on social media in the days before his death. “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,” he said. “I felt like he was out of control.”
He also recalled the moment when the news was announced. “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,” Boy George explained. “I couldn’t take it in. I think everybody felt like that.”
The “Karma Chameleon” singer also said that he received several rude comments of his own after he posted a tribute to Payne on Instagram. “You can absolutely have a broken heart over someone you don’t know. This is the saddest news ever,” he captioned a post shared on the platform on Oct. 17.
“Somebody tweeted to me: ‘You only care because he’s good-looking,’” Boy George said. “I think, ‘F–k off. You’re an idiot. No, actually, I care about his family.’”
Argentinian authorities arrested three people in connection with Payne’s death on Nov. 7. “Illicit conduct was discovered and three people have been charged with the crimes of abandonment of a person following death as well as supply and facilitation of narcotics,” the public prosecutor explained by statement.
You can listen to Boy George’s episode of “High Performance” here.