Fact Check: Is the video of Liam Payne falling from the balcony real? Viral footage debunked
Former One Direction singer Liam Payne tragically passed away on October 16 while was holidaying in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The musician was 31 years old at the time of death. In the wake of his passing, a video of a man, who is speculated to be the musician, falling from a hotel balcony has made its rounds online.
However, it is worth noting that claims of the man being the Strip That Down crooner are untrue.
According to a local police report provided to CNN, Payne died after falling off of a CasaSur Palermo Hotel balcony, located on Costa Rica Street in the Palermo neighborhood.
The Buenos Aires police revealed that they went to the hotel after they received a call from a hotel employee about an aggressive guest who was likely under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
In light of his passing, several internet users, including X user @callofboring, took to the social networking site to share a video of a man falling off of a balcony. The tweet read:
“An unconfirmed video of his fall in Argentina has been released. Our hearts are with him and his family.”
The tweet had amassed nearly 350,000 views at the time of writing this article.
Despite the video looking real, it is worth noting that it is not of Liam Payne.
The video of a man falling off of a balcony, presumed to be Liam Payne, is not that of the singer
X’s community notes clarified that the man in the video was not Liam Payne. The community note read:
“This video shows a man jumping from a burning building in Mexico City on September 13, 2022. It is unrelated to Liam Payne’s death in Argentina on October 16, 2024.”
The community notes on X also attached two links to articles that reported on the news of the burning building.
Regeneracion reported on September 13 that the video showed a man jumping off of an apartment located between the República de Cuba and República Chile streets in Mexico City.
The man was evidently trying to escape the flames. Paramedics arrived at the scene later on and rushed him to the hospital.
Hence, it is safe to say that the video going viral is not that of Liam Payne’s.
Liam Payne was holidaying in Argentina with his girlfriend, Kate Cassidy
TMZ learned that Liam Payne was holidaying with his girlfriend Kate Cassidy, who had arrived in the country on September 30. The couple uploaded various social media posts showing that they were enjoying their time together.
On October 2, the duo even attended Payne’s former One Direction bandmate Nial Horan’s concert in Buenos Aires’ Movistar Arena. However, Cassidy left the country on October 14, with Payne checking into the CasaSur Palermo Hotel.
Alberto Crescenti, the head of the state emergency medical system, told Argentina’s Todo Noticias TV channel that Payne fell approximately 13 or 14 meters and “suffered severe injuries that provoked immediate death.” He added:
“We arrived in time to try and revive him, but there was nothing we could do.”
As hotel employees reported that the singer was behaving erratically prior to his death, likely under the influence, it was reported that he had smashed his laptop and had to be carried back to his room.
An autopsy is yet to be performed.
Payne is survived by his seven-year-old son Bear, whom he shares with his ex-girlfriend Cheryl Cole.
