"I was a friend who loved him"- Liam Payne's friend Roger Nores claims that One Direction star came close to death several times due to addiction
Liam Payne’s friend Roger Nores claimed in legal documents that the former was reportedly “close to death” multiple times in recent years while battling his addiction struggles. The friend who has been accused of abandoning the late singer claimed in legal documents obtained by Rolling Stone that the former One Direction singer was reportedly admitted to the hospital for three days after suffering from “severe intoxication.”
Roger Nores alleged in the legal documents that Liam Payne was hospitalized for three days in Milan in September 2023. The legal filing also read:
“I was a friend who loved him very much, who helped him selflessly in everything I could, who spent my own money to help him, and even then it was not enough. I do not consider that I deserve the accusation that is being leveled at me.”
Roger Nores is an Argentinian businessman who was detained following the death of Payne. He faced an abandonment followed by a death charge after Payne fell from his third-floor hotel balcony on October 16 in Argentina.
Roger Nores claimed that Liam Payne went to rehab in Spain earlier this year
Nores alleged that Payne was hospitalized in London two times in 2023 and also reportedly had to be resuscitated due to “high levels of intoxication.” The energy entrepreneur alleged that the musician went to rehab in Spain in March 2024 but left the treatment center earlier than it was scheduled. He allegedly overdosed a month later, leading to him having to be resuscitated.
As per Rolling Stone, the legal filing read:
“Professionals had to resort to resuscitation maneuvers to save his life, without his family or friends being able to do anything to avoid these situations or help him.”
Nores claimed that his family tried to help him; however, he turned them down. While Payne spent time in the States, Nores claimed to have kept an eye on him, observing that he was clean for an entire summer.
Nores also alleged that he feared Liam Payne returning to England for work as he feared the singer would allegedly relapse. This reportedly led to a “strong argument” between the two.
As per Page Six, Nores was present in Argentina when the singer died despite attempting to cut ties with him. The media outlet also exclusively reported that multiple insiders claimed that Liam Payne had OD’d several times before his passing. Insiders were also “shocked” after his manager pushed him to sign for Netflix’s Building the Band show, filmed in Manchester over the summer. The source told the news outlet:
“His manager pushed him to do the show, and there were a lot of worried texts exchanged between us. We were shocked, there was no way he was in any shape to do this.”
Another insider also told Page Six that Payne had been:
“Cycling through periods of ruinous behavior for a long time.”
According to BBC, an autopsy revealed that Liam Payne died after suffering from “multiple traumas” and “internal and external hemorrhaging,” with him also suffering from 25 injuries that were “consistent with a fall from a great height.”