Liam Payne's ex-girlfriend and the mother of his 7-year-old son Bear, singer Cheryl Cole has broken her silence and issued a statement following the former One Direction member's tragic death. Liam Payne passed away on October 16 at the age of 31 after a tragic incident in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Liam Payne and Cheryl Cole dated in 2016 and welcomed their son, Bear, in 2017. They parted ways a year after that but continued to co-parent their son.
Cheryl on Friday shared a photo of Bear and Liam together along with a statement on her Instagram handle. The statement read, "As I try to navigate this earth-shattering event and work through my own grief at this indescribably painful time, I'd like to kindly remind everyone that we have lost a human being. Liam was not only a pop star and celebrity, he was a son, a brother, an uncle, a dear friend and a father to our 7-year-old son. A son that now has to face the reality of never seeing his father again."
Cheryl Cole also requested and said, "What is troubling my spirit the most is that one day Bear will have access to the abhorrent reports and media exploitation we have seen in the past two days. It is breaking my heart further that I cannot protect him from that in the future. I am begging you to consider what use some of these reports are serving, other than to cause further harm to everyone left behind picking up the pieces. Before you leave comments or make videos, ask yourself if you would like your own child or family to read them."
She concluded, "Please give Liam the little dignity he has left in the wake of his death to rest in some peace at last." Talking about the autopsy, confirmed that the British singer died of trauma and internal and external bleeding, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The report, released by Argentina's National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor's Office No. 14, stated that Payne died at 5:07 pm on Wednesday after falling from the Casa Sur Hotel in the Palermo district of the capital.
Forensic doctors at the city's judicial morgue conducted the autopsy that night. In a statement shared with The Hollywood Reporter, the prosecutor's office said, "The cause of death of Liam James Payne, determined macroscopically, has been polytrauma, internal and external hemorrhage." The circumstances of Payne's fall are being investigated as a "doubtful death" due to protocol, although it appears he was alone when the fall occurred.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the prosecutor's office stated that Payne "was going through some kind of outbreak due to substance abuse" at the time of the incident.
Authorities investigating the scene found evidence inside Payne's room that "would be narcotics and alcoholic beverages, as well as several destroyed objects and furniture." Experts are still working to confirm whether the substances found were drugs.
Five witnesses were interviewed, including three hotel staff members and two women who had been with Payne in his room earlier but had left before the fall. Liam Payne rose to fame as a member of One Direction, which formed on "The X Factor" in 2010.
The five musicians auditioned for the show solo, but were put together to form a band and eventually came in third place in the competition. Afterwards, One Direction was signed to Cowell's Syco Entertainment. The band went on to become one of the highest-selling boy bands in history, selling 70 million records worldwide before announcing an indefinite hiatus in 2016, Variety reported.
After One Direction's hiatus, Payne signed a solo record deal with Capitol Records U.K. and began releasing music in 2017, beginning with the single "Strip That Down" featuring Migos rapper Quavo. His debut solo album, "LP1," debuted in December 2019 and he put out a new single, "Teardrops," in March with a second album on the way.
