TMZ is facing backlash for publishing images showing parts of Liam Payne’s body after the former One Direction singer died in a fall on Wednesday.
The celebrity tabloid published cropped images of a tattooed arm and stomach and said Payne had been identified through the body ink. TMZ said the footage showed the singer’s body on a terrace at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he fell from the third-floor balcony of his room.
“TMZ has obtained a photo showing Liam’s body on a wooden deck at the hotel with tables and chairs nearby,” the article on the site said, according to screenshots posted to social media. “We don’t show the whole body, but you can clearly see his tattoos: a clock on his left forearm and a scorpion on his stomach.”
Overnight, the images were quietly removed. The text in the article was slightly updated to remove references to publishing the images. Instead, it said TMZ viewed a photo, “which helped us confirm early reports from witnesses.” No editor’s note has been added acknowledging the change.
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TMZ’s act was fiercely criticized.
“TMZ is trying to get clicks and advertising money from the corpse of a young man just minutes after news of his death,” said BBC journalist Shayan Sardarizadeh posted on X (formerly Twitter). “Imagine being a member of Liam Payne’s family and seeing this.”
In an interview with British radio network LBC, music writer Matt Charlton called TMZ’s move “shameful” and “one of the most irresponsible examples of so-called journalism I have ever seen.”
TMZ did not immediately return JS’s request for comment seeking clarity on its decisions.