Toni Cornell, daughter of late Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, publicly condemns TMZ For their coverage of the tragic death of One Direction star Liam Payne.
Payne, who was only 31 years old, fell to his death from the third floor balcony of the Casa Sur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina on October 16. Internal and external bleeding.
Toni shared a scathing statement on her Instagram condemning the site’s decision to publish photos of Payne’s hotel room and body following her death, a decision that was widely criticized.
Toni Cornell reflected on the painful loss of her father in 2017 in her heartfelt post. TMZ Also published images of her father’s death, which had a profound impact on the 12-year-old.
“After seeing these photos, I couldn’t help but reflect on my own experience when TMZ also posted images of my father’s death,” she wrote.
“When I was 12 years old I stumbled across these photos while scrolling on my iPad, which was indescribably traumatic and I still carry them with me to this day. TMZ Seven years later, there is still no option to politely remove these photos from the internet, which I think is the right thing to do.
although TMZ Payne’s photo was eventually removed after the backlash, with Toney stressing their action came too late.
“While Liam’s photos have since been taken down, this makes no sense. They should never have been up in the first place,” she continued. “It breaks my heart to think that his 7-year-old son, Little Bear, might one day encounter them and suffer the way I did.”
Cornell, 52, died in May 2017.
Tony wasn’t the only one unhappy with the shocking move. Liam Payne’s ex-partner and mother of son Bear, Cheryl Cole, also slammed media coverage of his death as “abhorrent”.
Cole posted a message on Instagram on Friday (October 18), “A kind reminder that we lost a man.”
“Liam is not only a pop star and celebrity, he is a son, brother, uncle, dear friend and father to our 7-year-old son,” she wrote, sharing a black-and-white photo of Payne hugging him and a newborn baby The born cub lies on the bed. “The son now has to face the reality that he will never see his father again.”
“What disturbs me most mentally is that one day Bell will have access to the abhorrent coverage and media exploitation we’ve seen over the past two days,” the singer continued. “It breaks my heart even more that I can’t protect his future from this.”
Cole concluded: “Please give Liam what little dignity he has left in his death and let him finally rest in peace.”
Cole and Penn dated for about two years before splitting in 2018.
The four surviving members of One Direction also released a joint statement, saying they were “completely shocked” by the band member’s death.
