An assumed choice. This Thursday, the American site TMZ, specialist in celebrity news, declared that it accepted its decision to have published photos of the body of singer Liam Payne, who died this Wednesday after falling from the balcony of a hotel in Buenos Aires.
Shortly after the announcement of the disappearance of the British star this Wednesday, the site TMZ attracted the wrath of fans of the singer and his former group, One Direction, by publishing photos of Liam Payne’s body. The images notably showed part of his tattooed arm and wrist, on the floor of a terrace at the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
“TMZ obtained a photo showing Liam’s body on a wooden deck at the hotel with tables and chairs nearby. We don’t show the whole body, but you can clearly see his tattoo – a clock on his left forearm and a scorpion on his abdomen,” the site wrote at the time. The post, however, was quickly removed from the original article.
Despite this deletion, TMZ executive producer Michael Babcock defends the publication of these controversial photos. “There’s a balance, and it’s obviously a conversation that newsrooms around the world are having: you want to be sensitive to family and friends, and also when you’re working on a story,” he said. he told Fox 5 New York.
“Such a sad story”
“When the news came in, the police hadn’t yet confirmed that it was Liam, so what was made out on the TMZ website was that there was an image – which didn’t show the full image, which didn’t show his face – but did show his arm and abdomen, where he had very recognizable tattoos, so it’s sort of used as a way to confirm, or match tattoos at a time when the police had not yet confirmed his identity,” the journalist continued. Once confirmation came, “that photo was removed,” Babcock added.
The death of Liam Payne is “a terribly horrible and sad story. “It’s something that obviously shouldn’t have happened, and this guy still had so much life left to live that you feel bad for everyone,” he said.
VideoDeath of Liam Payne: One Direction fans in tears and shock
British musician Liam Payne, former member of the boy band One Direction, died on Wednesday at the age of 31 after falling from a hotel in Buenos Aires, in a context of “consumption of alcohol and narcotics”, according to the first results of the investigation. His death sparked an avalanche of reactions from fans and celebrities, particularly in the United Kingdom, his country of origin, where tributes have multiplied since Thursday.
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