Former One Direction signer Liam Payne was found dead on Wednesday in Buenos Aires after falling from a hotel balcony. He was 31 years old.
After rising to international stardom as a teenager as member of the boy band that placed third on the The X Factor in the U.K., Payne was open about his struggles with drugs, alcohol, and mental health. On Friday’s show, Megyn was joined by The Daily Mail’s Maureen Callahan to discuss Payne’s tragic passing and the pitfalls of achieving fame at a young age.
Payne’s Death
According to the Associate Press, Buenos Aires police said in a statement that Payne fell from the third floor of the Casa Sur Hotel in Argentina’s capital, resulting in “extremely serious injuries.” He was confirmed dead by medics at the scene.
The tragedy followed a series of 911 calls obtained by the AP in which hotel employees said they had “a guest who is overwhelmed with drugs and alcohol” and “destroying the entire room.” They asked police to “send someone, please.”
Pictures from the singer’s hotel room show a shattered television screen and what appears to be drug paraphernalia on the floor. The AP reported packs of clonazepam (a central nervous system depressant), energy supplements, and other over-the-counter drugs were found among his belongings.
Payne’s Rise to Fame
Authorities have not yet confirmed whether Payne died by suicide, but he was candid about battling suicidal ideations in the past. “How many times have we talked about the downsides of young fame and fortune before these kids really can handle it and all that comes with it,” Megyn asked. “Even the success stories are fraught.”
After trying out twice as a solo act, Payne was 16 years old when he was placed in the group One Direction by Simon Cowell and his fellow judges on The X Factor. He joined Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, and Louis Tomlinson to become one of the most successful boy bands of all time with some 70 million records sold.
One Direction went on an indefinite hiatus in 2016, at which point Payne embarked on a solo career. On Jessie Ware’s Table Manners podcast in 2019, the singer spoke about the toll the experience took on him. “There’s no stop button. You’ve got no control over your life. That’s why I lost complete control of everything,” Payne told Ware. “I needed to stop. It would’ve killed me.”
He admitted to having a hard partying lifestyle that included going through all the alcohol in hotel mini-bars upon checking in when he was a member of One Direction. There were also a series of tumultuous relationships with women for the star who leaves behind a seven-year-old son whom he shared with with ex Cheryl Cole.
Raising Kids Right
In Megyn’s view, Payne’s death is another reminder that there is no upside to childhood fame. “Enormous fame at a very young age is a devil,” she said. “It is not a blessing, it is a curse, and it should be avoided and eschewed and protected against at all costs.”
Callahan said these tragedies often reveal how lonely fame can be. “I think how isolating it must be because everybody is looking at him like he has everything you want,” she noted. “He has looks, he has fame, he has money, he has talent, and inside he feels empty. And how many people are really going to understand that? It almost compounds the pain.”
That is why Megyn believes it is so important for children to be raised in a family with strong values. “Dr. Leonard Sax, who is a parenting expert… always says more time with the family, more dinners together around the dinner table, don’t obsess about friend time,” she shared. “The time from zero to 18 when they are still in your house is your time to make your moral, ethical, and loving imprint.”
That process cannot be rushed. “That is your time to build the character that he or she is going to need to go out in whatever profession they choose,” she concluded. “Anything before that, you are playing with fire.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Callahan by tuning in to episode 921 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988 or visiting 988lifeline.org