Sharon Osbourne blamed the music industry for Liam Payne’s tragic death.
The former “X Factor” judge, 72, took to Instagram on Thursday to mourn Payne’s loss and call out her fellow music moguls for turning their back on the struggling singer.
“Liam, my heart aches. We all let you down,” Osbourne wrote in a heart-wrenching statement Thursday.
“Where was this industry when you needed them?” she asked.
Osbourne noted that Payne was so young when he joined One Direction in 2010 and quickly sky-rocketed to fame.
“You were just a kid when you entered one of the toughest industries in the world,” she said, asking, “Who was in your corner?”
The TV personality concluded her post by writing, “Rest in peace my friend 🕊️ @liampayne.”
Osbourne was a judge in the singing competition show from 2004 to 2007 and made her return in 2013 and again from 2016 to 2017.
However; she was not a judge during the year that Payne first auditioned in the series in 2008 or when he and his former bandmates — Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik— formed One Direction and competed in 2010.
The group ended up coming in third place and quickly gained a worldwide following.
During his time in the band, Payne admitted to struggling with mental health issues and drug and alcohol addiction, though he entered rehab and was sober for 100 days in 2023.
The band eventually broke up in 2016 and distanced themselves from each other while pursuing solo careers.
Fans flooded the comments section of Osbourne’s post to applaud her honesty about the cut-throat industry.
“This is probably the most honest thing anyone could say. A lot of respect. So sad ❤️,” one person commented on the post.
“That’s the saddest part. Why was he on his own in that city and feeling so alone at that time. Heartbreaking 💔,” a second fan agreed.
“FINALLY…. Some honesty and truth, Thankyou Sharon! This music industry lets people down ALLLL the time,” a third netizen said. “It’s full of people who are only interested in making [money] out of people and in particularly young vulnerable people. It’s about time things change in my opinion. 💔.”
Payne tragically died after falling from his third-floor room at CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Wednesday. He was 31.
The former boy bander suffered multiple traumas that led to internal and external bleeding, the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office told Page Six of its preliminary autopsy report Thursday.
Medics rushed to the scene to revive him, but he was pronounced dead on the scene due to “extremely serious injuries that led to his immediate death,” according to emergency doctor Alberto Crescenti.
Prior to his death, Payne’s hotel room was completely trashed and contained alcohol and controlled substances.
Witnesses also claimed that Payne showed “disturbing” behavior in the lobby before his fatal fall.
A source claimed this week that the troubled singer had been dropped by his record label, Universal Music, just days before his heartbreaking passing.