The entertainment world is in a state of profound sadness following the tragic death of Liam Payne. An executive producer at TMZ, Michael Babcock, has now defended the news outlet’s decision to post photographs of the star’s body immediately after a devastating 40ft fall from a balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Amidst widespread grief upon learning of the former One Direction member’s death, TMZ found itself the target of intense backlash for circulating pictures of the scene, one where Liam’s motionless body was visible on a wooden deck.
Fans expressed their outrage over TMZ’s perceived disrespect, with Rylan Clark condemning the publication via Twitter: “And TMZ f**king shame on you. Disgrace.”
Simultaneously, another user tweeted in disgust: “TMZ posting part of a photo of Liam Payne’s dead body in an article announcing his death is beyond deplorable. I can’t tell if I’m losing my mind lately or if society has always been this overtly morally decrepit.”
Singer Alessia Cara also chimed in with a succinct and cutting rebuke directed at TMZ: “You’re gross @TMZ,” echoed by yet another fan’s dismay: “I know we complain about TMZ a lot but they really surprise me every time at how insensitive they can be,” reports the Mirror.
On Thursday, during an appearance on Fox 5 New York, TMZ executive producer Michael Babcock stood by the decision to publish the photographs.
He said: “There’s a balance, and that’s obviously a conversation that newsrooms across the world have. You want to be sensitive to the family and to the friends and also while working a news story.
“When the information was coming in, police had not yet confirmed that it was Liam. So what was done on the TMZ website, there was an image that did not show the full image – didn’t show his face but that showed his arm and his abdomen where he has some very recognisable tattoos.
“So that’s sort of used as a way to confirm, or to match up the tattoos at a point where police had not yet confirmed his identity. And then, once they did, obviously, that photo was removed.
“I mean, it’s just a terribly horrific and sad story. It’s something obviously that shouldn’t have happened, and this guy had so much life left to live and you feel horrible for everybody.”
Despite the explanation, fans were outraged, with one commenting on the YouTube video clip: “Are they really still trying to justify putting pictures of a dead body on their website?”
Another raged: “TMZ is disgraceful and disgusting and have no respect whatsoever and didn’t even bother to apologise for posting those horrendous pictures! Will never watch them again!”
“[It’s] not TMZ’s job to ‘identify’ the body,” a third remarked. “That is the job of the police/coroner to confirm. Revolting way to justify.”
Amid the debate, a fourth fan expressed outrage, stating: “The real issue is who from the staff at the hotel or medical team sold the original image. None of the public had access to that specific viewpoint at that time. Snapping that picture on your phone and selling it is grossly immoral.”
Liam Payne rose to stardom as part of One Direction, the boy band that conquered the music scene in the 2010s after first finding fame on The X Factor.
Following the group’s split in 2016, Liam embarked on a solo venture releasing his first album LP1, and has since welcomed a son with Cheryl, the former X Factor judge.
Their son, Bear, was born in 2017 and is now seven years old.