Boy George bitterly regrets his comments about Liam Payne before his death.
The singer spoke in an episode of the podcast High Performance when he returned to a comment he made on social media about the former One Direction member days before his death.
• Also read: Liam Payne was allegedly under the influence of a 'powerful hallucinogenic drug'
“I put a message under a post saying: 'He's lost his mind,' which wasn't very nice, but I felt it,” the 63-year-old singer confided. “I felt like he was out of control.”
Liam Payne died on October 16 after falling from a third-floor balcony of a hotel in Buenos Aires. He was 31 years old. Boy George recalled the moment he learned of the star's passing.
“I got up at 5 a.m. and heard the news on the American news, and I literally wondered what was happening. I was like, “No, that’s not true.” I couldn't accept it and I think everyone felt the same way,” he explained. “When (his death) happened, it hit me. In the same way as Amy Winehouse, I was struck because it was insane.”
The musician then said he was “dismayed” by comments from people who claimed he was only interested in the late singer because “he was handsome”.
• Also read: Hotel guest heard 'violent scream' coming from Liam Payne's room before fatal fall
“I looked at the father (Geoff Payne) and it broke my heart,” he said. “I had tears in my eyes. I really felt sad.”
Liam Payne's funeral took place on November 20 in the United Kingdom. All the former members of One Direction, as well as Cheryl Cole, his ex-girlfriend and mother of his son Bear, attended.
