One of the drugs found in Liam Payne’s system at the time of his death has a lethal reputation.
“All these drugs do nothing but kill people,” addiction specialist Richard Taite exclusively told Us Weekly on Monday, October 21, of pink cocaine, which he said is “coming in[to] fashion now,” and fentanyl. “They’re not like heroin and cocaine in the past. This is like garbage, all of it. [It’s] all dangerous today.”
Payne’s partial autopsy showed that he had “pink cocaine” in his system when he died at age 31 on October 16 after falling from a third-floor balcony of a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Despite the recreational drug’s name, it rarely contains cocaine itself, but is rather a mixture of ketamine, MDMA and methamphetamine. Payne also had cocaine, benzodiazepine and crack in his system, according to an ABC News report published on Monday.
Taite, who is the founder and chairman at Carrara Luxury Rehab & Addiction Treatment Center in California, highlighted the inherent dangers of Payne’s drug use. He emphasized that “all the drugs” currently being sold “on the street are bad,” due to the prevalence of fentanyl and other high-risk substances.
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“70 percent of all drugs that you buy in the street have fentanyl in it,” he said. “If you’re not getting pills in a pharmacy, that’s bad. Because it’s not just fentanyl anymore; now it’s pink cocaine, it’s Xylazine, it’s ketamine.”
Payne was pronounced dead at the scene after falling from the balcony. Buenos Aires emergency services chief Alberto Crescenti said in an October 16 statement that emergency responders could not “resuscitate him,” as his “injuries were incompatible with life.”
“Based on what the team saw, there was apparently a cranial fracture and extremely serious injuries that led to his immediate death,” Crescenti’s statement continued.
One day later, a preliminary autopsy noted that based on the position of Payne’s body and the injuries he suffered, he “did not adopt a reflexive posture to protect himself and may have fallen in a state of semi or total unconsciousness.”
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While the fall caused Payne’s death, Taite told Us that drugs are really to blame.
“For [Payne] to fall out of a window with no defensive markings at all on his body? He died of drug addiction,” he said.
Prior to his death, Payne revealed during a 2021 episode of the “Diary of a CEO” podcast that he had a “problem” with “pills and booze” during his early days in One Direction. He recalled feeling grateful when the group went on an indefinite hiatus in 2016.
“The day the band ended, I was like, ‘Thank the Lord,’” he admitted. “I know a lot of people are going to be mad at me for saying that, but I needed to stop or it would kill me.”
Payne’s former bandmates have shared tributes to him in the wake of his death. Harry Styles said he is “truly devastated by Liam’s passing” in an October 17 Instagram statement, and Zayn Malik shared a heartwarming message noting that he “always secretly respected” Payne’s candor even though they “butted heads because” of it sometimes.
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Louis Tomlinson likened Payne’s death to losing “a brother” and Niall Horan noted that he feels “so fortunate” that he saw Payne weeks before his his passing.
“I sadly didn’t know that after saying goodbye and hugging him that evening, I would be saying goodbye forever,” Horan, 31, added. “It’s heartbreaking.”
Payne is survived by his 7-year-old son, Bear, whom he shared with ex Cheryl Cole.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
With reporting by Sarah Jones and Andrea Simpson
