Boy George wishes he hadn’t made a “senseless” comment about Liam Payne’s behavior before he died.
The 63-year-old Culture Club singer, whose real name is George Alan O’Dowd, spoke about his regret during an appearance on the High Performance podcast released Wednesday (November 20), the day of Payne’s private funeral.
Days before the One Direction bandmate tragically died on October 16 after falling from a third-floor balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, George had left a comment on a video he saw of Payne.
“I’d actually put a message under a post saying, ‘He’s off his nut,’ which wasn’t very nice, but I felt it. I felt like he was out of control,” the “Love is Love” artist told podcast hosts Jake Humphrey and Damian Hughes.
“And when [his death] happened, it just hit me. Same way that Amy Winehouse hit me because it felt so senseless,” he continued. “I was up at 5 in the morning and it came up on the American news and I was literally like, ‘What the f***?’
George went on to say: “I was literally like, ‘No, this isn’t real.’ I couldn’t take it in. I think everybody felt like that. I watched the dad [Geoff Payne], and it was heartbreaking. I was quite tearful about it. I genuinely felt very sad.”
Geoff flew to Argentina to aid the Argentine police in the investigation into his 31-year-old son’s death. Earlier this month, three people were charged in connection to the pop star’s death.
While George feels sorry for Payne’s family and remorseful for his remarks, this wasn’t the first time the glam rock icon made negative remarks about the X Factor winner.
In 2013, George claimed Payne had refused to take a photo with his niece at that year’s BRIT Awards.
On X/Twitter, George wrote: “Top marks to Harry Styles for stopping for a picture with my niece and B****x’s to Liam and the disrespectful w***** of a minder!”
Payne responded back: “@BoyGeorge now now boy lets not tell porkies. Firstly thanks for getting my name wrong three times, then asking me where is liam?…awkward.
“Then when you finally got it right saying you wanted Niall instead,” Payne’s message continued. “If you would have asked me for a picture i would have stopped bro I just did what you said and pointed niall out for you so u just keep wearing ur strange hats and enjoy yourself my little Georgie pie… It’s still not cool you just look weird.”
One Direction members, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, and Louis Tomlinson all gathered, alongside Payne’s family, his girlfriend Kate Cassidy, Simon Cowell, and James Corden at St Mary’s Church in Buckinghamshire to put their friend to rest on Wednesday.
