Liam Payne has died aged 31 (Image: PA)

TMZ defends publishing Liam Payne dead body photos despite 'disgrace' backlash

Michael Babock, TMZ's Executive Producer, has defended the outlet's choice to post photographs of Liam Payne's body following the singer's horrific death on Wednesday.

by · Daily Record

As the world mourns the loss of much-loved musician Liam Payne, an executive producer at TMZ has defended the news outlet's choice to publish photographs online of the star's body shortly after he fell over 40ft from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

After the former One Direction singer's death was announced on Wednesday evening, TMZ faced tremendous criticism for sharing photographs of the scene, which showed part of Liam's dead body on a wooden deck, reports the Mirror.

Fans were outraged by the outlet's lack of respect when it posted an image of sections of his corpse following his death. Rylan Clark, a UK TV presenter, tweeted: "And TMZ, shame on you. Disgrace."

Another user said: "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."

Meanwhile singer Alessia Cara wrote: "you’re gross @TMZ,” and another fan commented: "I know we complain about TMZ a lot but they really surprise me every time at how insensitive they can be.”

Despite the backlash, TMZ executive producer Michael Babcock defended the usage of the photographs in an interview with Fox 5 New York on Thursday, October 17.

TMZ Executive Producer Michael Babcock defended the use of the images (Image: Image: Fox 5 New York/ Youtube)

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 – 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.”

Liam Payne news

Fans were, however, unmoved by the justification, with one writing in the YouTube comments of the video clip: "Are they really still trying to justify putting pictures of a dead body on their website?"

"TMZ is disgraceful and disgusting and has no respect whatsoever and didn’t even bother to apologise for posting those horrendous pictures!!! Will never watch them again!!" another said.

Meanwhile a fourth fan argued: "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 view point at that time. Snapping that picture on your phone and selling it is grossly immoral."

Liam Payne, a former member of the boy band One Direction, which ruled the charts during the 2010s, rose to prominence on The X Factor before embarking on a successful music career with the group. Following their split in 2016, Liam embarked on a solo career with his first album LP1, while also fathering a son with former X-factor judge Cheryl Cole.

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