A new petition calling for a change to the laws around the entertainment industry following the death of singer Liam Payne has surpassed 24,000 signatures.
The former One Direction star died aged 31 on October 16 after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires.
In the days following his tragic passing, a light has been shone on the mental health pressures put on those like Payne, who originally shot to fame as part of the chart-topping boyband when he was just 16.
The petition set up on Change.org is now campaigning to “safeguard artists’ mental health in the entertainment industry” with 24,893 people signing over the weekend.
Day Kv, who created the petition, wrote: “In recent news of Liam Payne’s tragic death as many others, the entertainment industry needs to be held accountable and be responsible to the welfare of their artists.
“We seek to implore lawmakers to create legislation safeguarding the mental health of artists within the industry.”
They further called for “regular mental health check-ups, adequate rest periods, and the presence of mental health professionals on-set, including any ongoing support during their career”.
The move comes after Boyzone singer Mikey Graham also called for record labels to take accountability and hire “psychologists” following Payne’s passing.
The 52-year-old Irish singer - who like Payne shot to stardom in a boyband - said fame can be “very damaging” with “nobody honest” around to help those struggling.
Taking to social media, Graham wrote: "Rip Liam Payne. Such tragic news. I think it would be a wise move for record companies to have psychologists on their books from now on in his memory as a duty of care for the vulnerability of their young talent.”
He added: “Fame can be very damaging especially in today’s world. Lots of money. Nobody to help. Lots of yes people. Nobody honest."
The circumstances around his death are still being investigated, however Argentina's prosecutor office has confirmed that a series of substances were seized from Payne's hotel room.
In 2021, Wolverhampton-born Payne opened up about struggling with alcohol and prescription drug addiction at the height of One Direction’s fame.
Appearing on Steven Bartlett’s The Diary of a CEO podcast host, he admitted that he "didn't like myself very much" during the boy band days.
He said they were filled with "pills and booze" and "moments of suicidal ideation."
Payne explained: "There is some stuff that I’ve definitely never spoken about. It was really, really, really severe. It was a problem."
He went on to tell how things got much worse when they were on tours, locked up in hotel rooms for days.
"In the band... the best way to secure us, because of how big we’d got, was just to lock us in our rooms. What’s in the room? A mini-bar," he said.
“So at a certain point I thought, I’m just going to have a party-for-one and that seemed to carry on for many years of my life. Then you look back at how long you’ve been drinking and you’re like, 'Jesus Christ, that's a long time.'”
