Overview
- Speaking on The Diary of a CEO podcast, Tomlinson said he learned of Payne’s death from Niall Horan while riding in a car in Los Angeles.
- He said Payne had campaigned hardest for a One Direction reunion, but the loss has “put a pin” in discussions and he is unsure a return would feel right to Payne.
- In Rolling Stone UK, Tomlinson called the past year “impossibly difficult” and described the band’s 15th anniversary as uncomfortable without Payne.
- He defended Payne as the group’s “safest pair of hands” and “most vital part,” arguing that public criticism often misread someone who “just wanted to be liked.”
- Officials recorded death from multiple traumas after a balcony fall, toxicology found alcohol, cocaine and an antidepressant, three negligence charges were dropped in February and prosecutions of two alleged drug suppliers continue.