Liam Payne’s Ex Cheryl Cole Breaks Silence, Pleads With People to Give Late Singer ‘The Little Dignity He Has Left’ 

Liam Payne was more than “a pop star and a celebrity,” says his ex-girlfriend Cheryl Cole. 

The Girls Aloud singer is “trying to navigate this earth-shattering event and work through my own grief at this indescribably painful time,” she wrote in an Oct. 18 Instagram post. That’s been made even more difficult by the way Payne’s death is being talked about in the press and on social media, she said.  

Payne, 31, died on Oct. 16 after falling from a balcony at Buenos Aires hotel. He and Cole were in a relationship from 2016 to 2018. Their son, Bear Gray Payne, was born in March 2017. 

Cheryl Cole criticizes ‘abhorrent reports’ about Liam Payne’s death 

To fans, Payne was a member of mega-popular boy band One Direction. But to those who knew him personally, he was “a son, a brother, an uncle, a dear friend, and a father to our 7 year old son,” Cole wrote in the post, which was accompanied by a black and white photo of Payne and an infant Bear. It was her son who Cole was thinking about most right now, she said. 

“What is troubling my spirit the most is that one day Bear will have access to the abhorrent reports and media exploitation we have seen in the past two days,” she went on to say. “It is breaking my heart further that I cannot protect him from that in the future.”

Cole appeared to be referring to gossip site TMZ, which included a cropped photo of Payne’s lifeless body in its initial report about his death. The site later removed the photo after facing widespread backlash. Other outlets have shared photos appearing to show a smashed TV and drug paraphernalia in Payne’s room at the Casa Sur hotel, and details of a 911 call made by a hotel employee before Payne’s death have been widely reported. 

One Direction star deserves to be treated with ‘dignity,’ his ex says 

In her post, Cole asked people to think about Payne and his loved ones as they discussed his death. 

“I am begging you to consider what use some of these reports are serving, other than to cause further harm to everyone left behind picking up the pieces,” she wrote. 

“Before you leave comments or make videos, ask yourself if you would like your own child or family to read them,” Cole added. “Please give Liam the little dignity he has left in the wake of his death to rest in peace at last.”

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