Simon Cowell, creator of ‘The X Factor,’ broke his silence on the death of One Direction member Liam Payne.
Simon Cowell, who brought One Direction together on the reality show “The X Factor”, said he is “heartbroken” following member Liam Payne’s death.
Payne fell from the third floor of his hotel room in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Wednesday. He was 31.
Payne died from “multiple trauma” and “internal and external hemorrhage” from the fall, according to the preliminary autopsy report released Thursday by the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office No. 14.
Cowell paid tribute to the late star on Instagram Friday.
“Liam, I am truly devastated. Heartbroken. And I feel empty”, Cowell wrote. “And I want you to know how much love and respect I have for you. Every tear I have shed is a memory of you.”
Cowell said people often asked him about Payne.
“And I would tell them you were kind, funny, sweet, thoughtful, talented, humble, focused”, Cowell said. “And how much you loved music. And how much love you genuinely had for the fans.”
Cowell created “The X Factor” and was a judge on multiple seasons of the show, including the two seasons Payne auditioned for in 2008 and 2010.
Payne was 14 when he auditioned in 2008. He did not advance in the competition and Cowell told him to come back in two years.
In 2010, Cowell brought together Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Niall Horan to form One Direction. The group finished third in the reality competition but signed a record deal with Cowell’s label Syco Music after the show.
