"Some sort of celebrity secret assassin?"- Fans react to TikTok conspiracy claiming Beyonce was in Argentina when Liam Payne died
In the aftermath of singer Liam Payne’s untimely demise, several conspiracy theories have surfaced online. One of them is that Beyonce was reportedly seen at the same hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where the former One Direction star stayed and died.
Disclaimer: This article only has references to the viral conspiracy theory. It does not reflect any subjective view or personal opinion of the author.
It first emerged on TikTok on October 17 and was posted by user @tamzintruman. She uploaded an 8-second clip of herself with the text, “Why have I just read that Beyonce was in the same hotel as Liam Payne 2 days before he died?!?!” The post, which had the audio of J. Cole’s song She Knows was captioned:
“By no means am I trying to be disrespectful, I’m just telling yly what I’ve read #liampayne #beyonce #sheknows #fyp.”
Several other TikTok users also shared different versions of the same claim, including @newsdecodefy and @pradab4be. These posts contained clips of Liam Payne cheering for his former 1D bandmate Harry Styles at the 2023 Grammy Awards. Back then, Styles won the Album of the Year Award for his solo album Harry’s House against fan-favorite Beyonce's album Renaissance.
The TikTok conspiracy theory videos also had a clip of young Liam Payne allegedly saying, “Ignore Beyonce” during one of the early interviews of 1D.
In the wake of this, fans of the recently deceased singer are now reacting to the claims which have circulated across all social media platforms. For instance, Reddit user @macadoo784 sarcastically commented on @Kushalbrl’s post on the @r/music community page, sharing the conspiracy theory.
“So, Beyonce is some sort of celebrity secret assassin? Out to get all those who ever criticized her?” the user asked.
However, several others joined the conversation to slam the conspiracy theorists and shared reactions on the social media platform X.
“Beyonce was not in the same hotel. Why do people try and spread stupid lies as soon as something happens?” a fan wrote.
“For some people to blame Beyonce for Liam's death is ridiculous. Are they just stupid or do they get paid good money to be stupid? A TikTok with more than 560k likes blaming Beyoncé...” another fan wrote.
“Know wat? I'm not ready to subscribe to this kind of stupid,” one individual wrote.
Others continued to mock those who came up with the Beyonce and Liam Payne conspiracy theory.
“Are u f*cking kidding? I know what he did but he just died, not the right time for that,” another individual wrote.
“Liam Payne dies and there are people making jokes that he forgot to thank Beyoncé. Some of you are really messed up and have no boundaries,” another person wrote.
Meanwhile, a few people seemingly agreed with the TikTok conspiracy theories.
“Liam Payne from One Direction just died! Beyonce you better not be the reason...” a user wrote.
“Maybe, Liam Payne forgot to thank Beyonce idk,” another user wrote.
"So you’re telling me Liam Payne didn’t thank Beyoncé that one time AND NOW THIS," a netizen wrote.
Notably, the conspiracy theory surrounding Queen Bey and the Teardrops crooner’s demise follows the ‘She Knows’ trend and the ‘Thank You, Beyonce’ memes. Both emerged after Sean “Diddy” Combs’ recent arrest and federal indictment.
The first was a theory that claimed that the Cowboy Carter songstress allegedly had information or knowledge of the Diddy scandal, as well as others from the industry. Besides, it was also a reference to the 2013 J. Cole song She Knows, which fans believe alluded to the mysterious deaths of celebrities including Aaliyah, Left Eye, and MJ, among others.
The latter was a light-hearted joke combined with reverence, suggesting that as long as people remembered to show gratitude towards Queen Bey, nothing bad would ever happen to them.
Exploring the circumstances surrounding Liam Payne’s demise
Liam Payne passed away on October 16, 2024, after falling from the third-floor hotel room balcony at CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was 31. According to the preliminary post-mortem report obtained by Argentine media company Clarin, he died from “multiple traumas” and “internal and external bleeding.”
As per Vice, Alberto Crescenti, the head of Argentina’s medical services team, told La Nacion that they received a 911 call at 5:04 pm “for a person who had fallen into an interior patio of this hotel in Palermo.” Seven minutes later, the ambulance arrived, but Liam "had injuries incompatible with life."
“This man had injuries incompatible with life… very serious injuries as a result of the fall he suffered… The team could do absolutely nothing… The whole body had very serious injuries,” Crescenti noted.
Meanwhile, another 911 call was also made by one of the hotel employees asking for urgent help for a guest who was “overloaded with drugs and alcohol.” The staff informed how Payne was causing a ruckus when he was “conscious” and claimed that his life might be at “risk,” adding that the room he was staying in had a balcony and they were “afraid” he might try something. The 911 call transcript was published by Reuters on October 18, 2024.
Via the BBC, Liam’s family has issued a statement in the aftermath of his demise. It read, “We are heartbroken. Liam will forever live in our hearts and we’ll remember him for his kind, funny and brave soul.” They also asked for “privacy and space” during the difficult time.
Likewise, his former bandmates also shared a joint statement saying they were “devastated” at the loss of their “brother, whom we loved dearly,” and wanted time from the fans to “grieve and process” the tragedy.
Payne is survived by his 7-year-old son Bear Payne, his parents, and his two sisters.
