Justin Bieber Shares Heartfelt Tribute to Liam Payne in Emotional Video: ‘Rest Easy’
Justin Bieber is remembering Liam Payne with an emotional tribute.
Bieber, 30, took to his Instagram Story on Monday, October 21, to republish a video of fans mourning Payne. Bieber added a broken-heart emoji to the clip.
In the video, text over the series of clips read, “Rest easy Liam.”
“Just remember, you are allowed to grieve as a fan. You are allowed to love someone you’ve never met. You are allowed to admire someone for their art. You are allowed to cry, to break, to feel like a part of you is gone,” the audio, which is from Joey Kidney, said. “Because even if they never knew your name, they changed your world.”
Us Weekly confirmed on Wednesday, October 16, that Payne died in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was 31.
Alberto Crescenti, emergency service chief, said the former One Direction band member suffered “serious injuries” after falling from the third-floor balcony of a hotel.
“Our role was to head there quickly, give medical attention and try to resuscitate him, but his injuries were incompatible with life,” Crescenti said, per La Nacion. “Based on what the team saw, there was apparently a cranial fracture and extremely serious injuries that led to his immediate death.”
Crescenti added, “The team could do absolutely nothing. There was no resuscitation because it was confirmed that he had died. The whole body had very serious injuries.”
According to a preliminary autopsy report, Payne died from “internal and external” hemorrhages.
“No injuries were observed that would suggest the involvement of third parties,” the translated autopsy obtained by Us reads. “The prosecutor’s office indicated that, based on the position in which the body was found and the injuries from the fall, it is presumed that Payne did not adopt a reflexive posture to protect himself and may have fallen in a state of semi or total unconsciousness.”
A subsequent partial autopsy report published by ABC News on Monday, October 21, revealed that Payne had “pink cocaine,” cocaine, benzodiazepine and crack in his system. There was an aluminum pipe that was reportedly found in his hotel room as well.
Bieber, who was also a teen heartthrob, had a long history with Payne. When a fan compared Payne to Bieber during an Instagram Live, the former One Direction band member went off. Payne later claimed on Logan Paul’s “Impaulsive” podcast in 2022 that he “wasn’t even meaning to offend” Bieber.
Tensions increased between One Direction and Bieber until Payne decided to talk to the “Baby” singer and sort out their differences.
“He’d grown as a person [at that point] and it was sitting with him and having that conversation and I was, like, ‘Dude, I’ve always felt for you.’ I said, ‘No. 1, I’ve done all the things you’ve done and I’ve never been caught for any of them,’” he explained.
Payne also recalled telling Bieber that they all “suffer from the same disease,” seemingly referencing young stardom, but noted that he at least has his bandmates, while Bieber performs alone.
“‘And I know in your camp you’re you and there’s no one like you, so you can’t turn around and have that shoulder,’” Payne said. “And he was like, ‘Bro, that’s giving me chills.’”
