Supporters of Liam Payne displayed a heartwarming act to shield the singer’s father from paparazzi in Argentina.
The former One Direction star tragically passed away on Wednesday, October 16, at 31, after a fall from a third-floor balcony at the CasaSur hotel in Buenos Aires.
Payne had been staying at the hotel with his girlfriend, Kate Cassidy, who had returned to the UK two days before his death.
Following this unforeseen tragedy, various figures in the entertainment industry, including Simon Cowell and Cheryl Tweedy, who shares a seven-year-old son named Bear with Payne, have paid their respects.
Cheryl expressed her sentiments on Instagram: “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 seven year old son. A son that now has to face the reality of never seeing his father again,” she continued.
Payne’s father, Geoff Payne, has been seen honoring his son at the memorial established outside the Argentinian hotel where the incident took place.
The sudden news has drawn a significant media presence outside the hotel.
When Geoff visited the CasaSur hotel on Friday, October 18, he faced a swarm of paparazzi and media personnel.
However, mourning fans of Liam Payne devised a strategy to block them.
“Some girls cover up so the paparazzi can’t take pics of Liam’s dad in the hotel, I love them, I love this fandom so much,” a fan shared on Twitter.
An accompanying photo from a news report shows fans raising their hands in front of cameras to prevent a snapshot of Payne’s father at the hotel.
Another Twitter user wrote: “This is what Liam Payne has earned in his life, a lot of love. Fans fighting with paps [so they] don’t take a photo [of] Liam’s dad.”
It is believed that Geoff traveled from the UK to Argentina to formally identify his son in the morgue and to start arrangements for Payne’s body to be brought back to the UK.
Reports from Argentinian media suggest Geoff was also expected to collect some of Liam’s personal items.