“You Are Allowed To Grieve As A Fan”: Justin Bieber Reposted An Emotional Tribute To Liam Payne

    One Direction and Justin Bieber were two of the defining music acts of the 2010s, both breaking onto the global scene around the start of the decade.

    Ellen Durney
    by Ellen Durney

    BuzzFeed Staff

    Justin Bieber is showing love for Liam Payne after his sudden death.

    Justin Bieber in formal attire
    Theo Wargo / Getty Images

    As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, the former One Direction star died at age 31 on Oct. 16 after falling from a third-floor balcony at a hotel in Buenos Aires.

    Liam Payne wearing a plaid shirt smiles and shows a peace sign while outside
    Marc Piasecki / GC Images

    The BBC reported that staff at the hotel made two calls to emergency services shortly before Liam’s fatal fall, which happened just after 5 p.m. local time. A full transcript of the phone calls suggested that the workers were concerned about “a guest who has had too many drugs and alcohol.”

    An autopsy report later showed that Liam died of “polytrauma and internal and external bleeding” sustained by his fall from the balcony.

    Gareth Cattermole / Getty Images

    Toxicology test results also indicated that he had multiple substances in his system at the time of his death — including “pink cocaine,” which is a recreational drug often made up of other drugs like methamphetamine, ketamine, MDMA, cocaine, benzodiazepine, and crack.

    Since Liam’s death, public figures from the music industry and beyond have issued statements of mourning, including each of his former One Direction bandmates, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, and Niall Horan.

    Christopher Polk / Getty

    And now, we’ve got a tribute from another pop superstar of the 2010s — Justin Bieber.

    Justin Bieber wearing a tank top, bucket hat, and multiple necklaces attends an event
    Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images

    On Monday, Justin took to his Instagram story to repost a fan-made video showing a number of public memorials created in Liam’s honor.

    A statue surrounded by flowers, balloons, and notes; text reads "rest easy Liam" with heart emoji. Instagram story by Justin Bieber
    @justinbieber / @xorainbowlouis / Instagram / Via instagram.com

    The video was captioned “rest easy liam,” and an accompanying voiceover said: “Just remember: You are allowed to grieve as a fan. You are allowed to love someone you've never met. You are allowed to admire someone for their art. You are allowed, to cry, to break, to feel like a part of you is gone.”

    Justin — who released his debut EP, My World, eight months before One Direction were formed on The X Factor UK in 2010 — reshared the video to his 295 million followers, adding a broken heart emoji.

    Dave Sandford / NHLI via Getty Images

    Before releasing their individual tributes to Liam, Harry, Niall, Louis, and Zayn released a joint statement mourning the loss of their former One Direction bandmate.

    One Direction
    Kevin Mazur / WireImage

    “We're completely devastated by the news of Liam's passing. In time, and when everyone is able to, there will be more to say. But for now, we will take some time to grieve and process the loss of our brother, who we loved dearly,” the statement began.

    Stephane Cardinale - Corbis / Corbis via Getty Images

    “The memories we shared with him will be treasured forever,” they continued. “For now, our thoughts are with his family, his friends, and the fans who loved him alongside us. We will miss him terribly. We love you Liam.”

    You can find the video Justin reposted here.

    Comments