Drugs to blame in Liam Payne's death, close friend says

By Horacio Fernando Soria and Miguel Lo Bianco

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Drugs are the only thing to blame in the death of former One Direction star Liam Payne, according to a close friend who was cleared last month of charges he was involved with the singer's death.

Rogelio "Roger" Nores, speaking to Reuters on Friday alongside his lawyer, described Payne's October fall from a Buenos Aires hotel balcony as "bad luck" and a "tragedy."

Nores and two employees at the hotel where Payne died were cleared by a court in February of any wrongdoing.

Two other people remain detained awaiting trial over accusations they plied the 31-year-old Payne with cocaine during his stay in Buenos Aires.

"As a friend, you see them having a drugs problem and you do what you can but at the end of the day it's their decision," said Nores. "You start seeing a chain of events and it was just bad luck, it happened in a way that ended in tragedy."

Payne was known for his stint in one of the most popular boy bands of all time, One Direction, created by Simon Cowell from contestants on the UK version of TV show "The X Factor" in 2010.

Payne met Nores, a businessman, in 2020, later visiting him at his home in Palm Beach, Florida, according to Nores, a dual U.S.-Argentina citizen.

"The last six months of his life we were together every single day, all the time, along with our girlfriends at that time," Nores said. Nores had last seen Payne that afternoon in the hotel, said his lawyer.

Argentine prosecutors had argued that Nores' closeness with Payne, and his alleged role as the singer's manager - a role Nores and his lawyer denied - made him responsible in his death.

Prosecutors said Payne's autopsy showed at the time of his death he had "large quantities" of cocaine and alcohol in his system.

Nores' lawyer, Rafael Cuneo Libarona, said that Nores had sent Payne's family an email the month of his death recommending he be sent to a rehabilitation facility.

"It's hard for someone famous to say no to drugs," Cuneo Libarona said. "Cocaine, 'tusi' (pink cocaine), crack, heroin are all drugs that are really accessible to famous people and there are so many dealers."

"So let's not look for who's guilty, it's the drugs that are at fault," he said.

Despite being cleared by the court, fans are still upset with him, said Nores.

"When someone you grew up with, with their voice, their songs, and all of a sudden they're gone, it's hard to deal with," Nores said. "They're trying to find an explanation."

(Reporting by Horacio Soria and Miguel Lo Bianco in Buenos Aires; Additional reporting by Kylie Madry in Mexico City; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)