TMZ is facing backlash for publishing images said to show parts of Liam Payne’s body after the former “One Direction” singer died in a fall on Wednesday.
The celebrity gossip tabloid published cropped images showing a tattooed arm and stomach, saying it had identified Payne via the body ink. TMZ said the images showed the singer’s body on a deck at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he fell from the third-floor balcony of his room.
“TMZ obtained a photo showing Liam’s body on a wooden deck at the hotel with tables and chairs nearby,” the site’s article read, according to screenshots posted on social media. “We’re not showing the whole body, but you can clearly see his tattoos — a clock on his left forearm, and a scorpion on his abdomen.”
Overnight, the images were quietly removed. The text in the article was updated slightly to remove references to publishing the images, saying instead that TMZ had viewed a photo, “which helped us confirm early reports from witnesses.” No editor’s note was added acknowledging the change.
TMZ’s act was fiercely criticized.
“TMZ is trying to get clicks and ad money off of a young man’s dead body just minutes after the news of his death,” BBC journalist Shayan Sardarizadeh posted on X (formerly Twitter). “Imagine being a member of Liam Payne’s family and seeing this.”
In an interview with U.K. radio network LBC, music writer Matt Charlton called TMZ’s move “shameful” and “one of the most irresponsible examples of so-called journalism I’ve ever seen.”
TMZ did not immediately return HuffPost’s request for comment seeking clarity on its decisions.