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Former One Direction member Liam Payne died on Oct. 16, 2024, after falling from a balcony at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His ex-fiancée, Maya Henry, threatened to take legal action against Payne days before his death. Now, reports suggest that Henry issued Payne a cease and desist a week before his fatal fall. Here’s what she said about how the “whole world” would blame her if something bad happened to Payne.

Liam Payne’s ex-fiancée had a cease and desist issued before Payne’s death

Liam Payne started dating his ex-fiancée, Maya Henry, in 2019. In 2020, they became engaged — though the romance was short-lived. Payne and Henry broke up in 2021, with Payne indicating in interviews that it was a painful breakup. He and Henry later reconciled, giving their romance another go with a second engagement in 2021. However, they broke up for good in May 2022.

Henry attained fame for her novel, Looking Forward, which included real-life events. The main character of the story, Mallory, had to make difficult decisions regarding an abortion. Henry said the character’s tragedies reflected her own experience.

According to DailyMail.com, Henry began legal proceedings against Payne in October 2024. She accused the One Direction star of obsessively contacting her friends and her family, including her mother.

“Maya Henry issued a cease and desist last week to Liam Payne following the emergence of new and concerning information,” lawyers told the publication. “She has retained attorneys Marco Crawford and Daniel Cerna to represent her. At this time, that is her only comment on the matter.”

Henry previously took to TikTok to explain what happened between her and Payne. “Ever since we broke up he messages me, will blow up my phone, not only from his phone — it’s always from different phone numbers too, so I never know where it’s gonna come from,” she explained. “He’ll create new iCloud accounts to message me — it’s always a new damn iCloud account. Every time I see one pop up on my phone I’m like, ‘Here we f***ing go again.’ Also, he will email me … not only me, but he’ll blow up my mom’s phone.”

Maya Henry said fans would blame her if something happened to Liam Payne

A close-up of Liam Payne and Maya Henry
Liam Payne and Maya Henry attend the ‘Ron’s Gone Wrong’ World Premiere during the 65th BFI London Film Festival in 2021 | John Phillips/Getty Images for BFI
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Maya Henry has spoken candidly about her relationship with Liam Payne. On Oct. 14, 2024, she spoke on The Internet Is Dead podcast about her book, Looking Forward. While on the podcast, she explained how Payne’s fans would likely blame her if something happened to the One Direction star.

“Even until my book was coming out, even one of his friends was calling me, and my mom being like, ‘You know, this isn’t a good time for [Liam], I don’t think you should put the book out,’” she said, according to In Touch Weekly. “‘He’s not doing well, and if something happens to him, you’re not only going to blame yourself, but the whole world is going to blame you.’”

A source close to Liam Payne told People that Payne felt “extremely overwhelmed by all of the legal issues” with Maya Henry.

Before Payne’s death, the CasaSur Palermo Hotel chief receptionist alerted police of the One Direction star’s behavior. People reports that a transcript of the call has the receptionist saying Payne was presumably “under the influence of alcohol and drugs,” and they asked help to arrive “urgently.” The worker also noted that Payne was “trashing the entire room.” Payne died around 10 minutes later.

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