Simon Cowell Reacts To Those Who ‘Blame’ Him For Liam Payne’s Death

Simon Cowell has responded to those critics who “blame” him for the sudden death of former One Direction singer Liam Payne.

The TV and music mogul mentored Liam during his and his One Direction bandmates’ time on The X Factor in 2011, and later signed them to his now-defunct Syco record label for the duration of their time together.

In October of last year, Liam died tragically at the age of 31 after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina.

Prior to that, the chart-topping singer had spoken publicly about issues relating to his mental health and substance abuse, and a toxicology report found alcohol, cocaine and prescribed drugs in his system at the time of his death.

During a new interview with Rolling Stone, Simon was asked about Liam’s death, stating: “When I heard the news, it really hit me. I saw him a year before this happened. He came over to my house. We talked about his son and being a dad.

“I remember saying, ‘Music is not everything. Don’t let it run your life anymore. Find something else that you are passionate about’.”

Liam Payne pictured in 2017
Liam Payne pictured in 2017

via Associated Press

Simon continued: “You ask yourself that question: ‘Could I have done anything more? What would’ve happened to Liam if he hadn’t been in the band?’.

“Having spoken to his mum and dad recently, all they kept telling me was he was so proud of what he had achieved. I wish I could turn back the clock, of course. When I spoke to him that day, I felt really good about him. I thought, ‘Wow, you seem in a really good place’.”

Asked about those who would put the blame on him for the circumstances leading to Liam’s death, the Britain’s Got Talent judge insisted he doesn’t “read any of this stuff because if I did, you would just torture yourself”.

“The idea that you are essentially responsible for somebody’s life, 10 years after you’ve signed someone? You can’t do that,” he added.

Simon Cowell with One Direction in 2013
Simon Cowell with One Direction in 2013

via Associated Press

Last year, Simon was among the guests at Liam’s funeral, where his four 1D bandmates were also in attendance.

Months before Liam’s death, Simon sparked controversy when he claimed that his “one regret” when it came to One Direction was not being made the legal owner of the group’s name, which even appeared to spark a response from members of the group at the time.

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Simon Cowell’s Company Responds To Rumoured Dig On Jade Thirlwall’s New Single

Simon Cowell’s company has issued a response to an apparent dig on Jade Thirlwall’s debut single.

Last week, the former Little Mix singer unveiled her first ever solo offering, Angel Of My Dreams, which she has described as her personal “love/hate letter to the music industry”.

While promoting the single, Jade has said her song is intended to represent the highs and lows she’s experienced during her 13 years in the public eye.

One lyric in particular, “sold my soul to a psycho”, has been interpreted by many as a jab at Simon Cowell, whose now-defunct record label, Syco, she and her bandmates were signed to for almost a decade after winning The X Factor in 2011.

Responding to the lyric, a representative for Simon Cowell’s entertainment company told the Daily Mail: “The entire team who worked incredibly hard behind the scenes with Little Mix to help make the group a success would, I’m sure, always continue to wish them solo success.”

Little Mix performing in front of Simon Cowell on The X Factor in 2017
Little Mix performing in front of Simon Cowell on The X Factor in 2017

Summers/Thames/Syco/Shutterstock

Jade previously said: “[Angel Of My Dreams] is about how obsessed I am with the industry – so there are lyrics like ‘love when you call me a star’ – but also there’s the dark side that comes with that. It’s not as glam as it seems.”

The track opens with a sample of Sandie Shaw’s Eurovision-winning Puppet On A String, of which Jade said: “In the beginning of our career you do think you are this puppet, but at the same time it isn’t true – we wrote a lot of our songs, and we were behind a lot of what we put out there. I resented that as a statement.

“So, it felt natural to take that and show that it can be true and untrue at the same time.”

Jade Thirlwall launched her solo career last week with her debut single Angel Of My Dreams
Jade Thirlwall launched her solo career last week with her debut single Angel Of My Dreams

The Official Charts Company announced on Sunday that Angel Of My Dreams is currently on track to chart at number two in this weeks UK singles chart.

Check out the song’s official music video below:

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