Liam Payne once claimed he was scared after meeting hip-hop moguls Sean’ Diddy Combs and Jay-Z in a video that has resurfaced in light of the singer’s shock death.
Payne made the comments during a 2017 appearance on The Graham Norton Show. He recalled meeting Diddy at a party and how the rapper lingered on their handshake for an awkward amount of time.
“I went over to talk to him and Jay-Z and as I shook his hand he just chuckled… [he had] the most evil laugh I have ever heard. So I’m a little scared of that guy,” Payne, then 24, said.
Payne said Diddy held his hand for an awkward amount of time in “the longest handshake ever,” leaving him wondering, “when is this going to end?”
The video sparked wild conspiracy theories Thursday in the wake of Payne’s death and mounting allegations against Diddy, who is awaiting trial on sex trafficking and racketeering charges in a case that has rocked the music industry.
Liam Payne once claimed he was left scared after meeting with hip-hop moguls Sean’ Diddy Combs and Jay-Z
Payne said Diddy held his hand for an awkward amount of time in “the longest handshake ever,” leaving him wondering, “when is this going to end?”
Diddy is currently awaiting trial in a New York jail on federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges.
The clip has resurfaced following news of Payne’s untimely death in Argentina after falling from a third-floor balcony of his hotel and suffering a fractured skull.
Payne, who rose to fame as a member of British boy band One Direction and struggled with intense global fame in his teens, sent shockwaves around the world as Argentine investigators continued their investigation on the ground.
As fans and media bombed the Casa Sur Hotel in the Argentine capital’s trendy Palermo district, the forensic unit worked inside on Thursday to collect evidence.
Buenos Aires police said they found Payne’s hotel room “in complete disarray,” with packets of clonazepam, a central nervous system depressant, as well as energy supplements and other over-the-counter medications strewn about and “several objects broken.”
Payne, right, is seen with Salma Hayek and David Williams during the 2017 interview
Payne also recalled being pushed by one of Jay-Z’s bodyguards after he leaned over to talk to him. Jay-Z and Diddy are pictured in 2004
They added that a whiskey bottle, lighter and cell phone were recovered from the courtyard of the hotel where Payne’s body was found.
Police said they rushed to the hotel on Wednesday in response to an emergency call just after 5pm local time, warning of an “aggressive man who may be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.”
In a recording of a 911 call obtained by The Associated Press, a hotel manager can be heard saying that the hotel “has a guest who is overpowered by drugs and alcohol… He trashes the whole room and, well, we need you to send someone please. .’
One of Liam Payne’s last selfies in Buenos Aires was captioned: ‘Beautiful day in Argentina’
The manager’s voice becomes more anxious as the conversation continues, noting that the room has a balcony.
Payne was known as the messy, sensible one of the quintet that went from a TV talent show to a pop phenomenon with a huge international following of swooning fans.
In recent years, he had admitted to struggling with alcoholism, saying in a July 2023 YouTube video that he had been sober for six months after treatment.