Liam Payne’s death: Close friend blames death on drugs and calls tragic fall from hotel balcony 'bad luck'

Speaking to Reuters alongside his lawyer, Rogelio “Roger” Nores said drugs were ultimately to blame for the former One Direction star’s death, and his fatal fall from a Buenos Aires hotel balcony was “bad luck” and a “tragedy.”

"As a friend, you see them having a drugs problem and you do what you can but at the end of the day it's their decision," Nores said. "You start seeing a chain of events and it was just bad luck, it happened in a way that ended in tragedy."

Nores and two hotel employees were cleared by a court in February of any wrongdoing. However, two others remain in custody, awaiting trial over allegations that they supplied the 31-year-old singer with cocaine during his stay in Buenos Aires.

Payne, known for his time in the globally successful boy band One Direction, rose to fame after being placed in the group by Simon Cowell on the UK’s "The X Factor" in 2010. Nores, a businessman and dual US-Argentine citizen, met Payne in 2020, and the two became close friends.

"The last six months of his life we were together every single day, all the time, along with our girlfriends at that time," Nores said. His lawyer confirmed Nores last saw Payne on the afternoon of the incident at the hotel.

Argentine prosecutors initially argued that Nores’ close relationship with Payne, along with claims that he acted as the singer’s manager - a role both Nores and his lawyer denied - made him partly responsible for Payne’s death.

An autopsy confirmed that the 31-year-old had "large quantities" of cocaine and alcohol in his system at the time of his death, prosecutors said. Nores' lawyer, Rafael Cuneo Libarona, stated that Nores had emailed Payne’s family the month of his death, recommending he be sent to a rehabilitation centre.

"It's hard for someone famous to say no to drugs," Cuneo Libarona said. "Cocaine, 'tusi' (pink cocaine), crack, heroin are all drugs that are really accessible to famous people and there are so many dealers. So let's not look for who's guilty, it's the drugs that are at fault," he added.

Despite being cleared by the court, Nores said he continues to face backlash from fans. He said: "When someone you grew up with, with their voice, their songs, and all of a sudden they're gone, it's hard to deal with. They're trying to find an explanation."

Nores previously said that Payne’s father Geoff had his son “sectioned” after he suffered from a serious drug overdose in May 2024. Nores said: “Originally, they tried to have him sectioned for 90 days. That ended up getting cut down to 30 days. But Liam talked his way out after just three.”

He added Payne had been supported by a team of professionals after leaving the facility, with the singer “really looking after himself” and attempting to curb his addiction. Nores told the newspaper: “He knew he needed help.

“He did four months sober. Liam then began to go to the gym every day. He was really looking after himself. And it wasn’t easy. He required 24-hour attention. Anyone who’s looked after an addict knows that it isn’t straightforward. It was draining, but I wanted to do it – that’s what friends are for. After four months, I truly believed he had turned a corner.”