The father of late One Direction star Liam Payne, Geoff Payne, has been named in a US defamation case by the singer’s friend Roger Nores.
Payne died at the age of 31 from “multiple trauma” and “internal and external bleeding”, after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires.
Five people have been charged with his death, including Mr. Nores, who was charged with manslaughter. Argentinian prosecutors claimed that he had “abandoned” the singer and had failed in his duty of care.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Florida, Mr. Nores claimed Payne’s father made “false” statements to Argentine officials that “contained material omissions and many parts were not based on personal knowledge.”
The contested statements include claims that, “due to his addictions”, Payne was in the care of his girlfriend Kate Cassidy and Mr Nores.
However, Mr. Nores claims his relationship with Payne has been misrepresented, saying they had a “dear mutual friendship” but that he “never owed a legal duty of care” to him.
“Liam was an independent adult who made all his own decisions,” the lawsuit states.
It was stated that Mr Nores had “never been Liam’s carer”.
He added that the statements by Payne’s father, which were reported by the media, had a “detrimental effect” on his reputation “on a large scale with great damage”.
The new document states that the “net financial proceeds” of the lawsuit will be donated to Bear, the One Direction solo star’s son, who he shared with Girls Aloud singer Cheryl.
Cheryl was among the mourners on Payne’s star-studded funeral in Novemberalongside his former bandmates Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik.
The UK inquest into Payne’s death was adjourned until a pre-inquest review on November 6.
Press Association contacted Mr. Noresa and Mr. Payne for comment.
