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Like with any breaking celebrity news story, TMZ was among the first to report on Liam Payne’s death. Unlike the majority of sites, the celebrity gossip website purportedly published photos of the 31-year-old’s dead body.
I know I’m stating the obvious, but that is NOT okay, and it can never happen again.
Since its creation in 2005, TMZ has been responsible for delivering the latest and often times contentious celebrity news. The site, founded by Harvey Levin, saw its meteoric rise after publishing stories on Mel Gibson’s DUI arrest and his subsequent encounter with the police and Michael Richard’s racist tirade at the Laugh Factory.
Time after time TMZ proved themselves trustworthy by providing fans with fast information.
“They are the same skills you would use to cover President Obama,” Levin told ABC News after TMZ beat everyone, including the coroner’s office, to break the news of Michael Jackson’s death in 2009. “You get a tip, chase down the tip, find out if it’s true, you confirm it, you source it, and you publish it.”
But as the years went on the website faced growing criticism for some of their tactics.
Ken Sunshine, publicist for Ben Affleck and Leonardo DiCaprio, once stated that his clients weren’t fans of the website because it typically portrayed celebrities in a negative light.
Although Levin previously stated his reporters did everything they could to confirm the tips they received, some of the stories published on TMZ made you wonder.
On October 26, 2022, the website reported that Jerry Lee Lewis died when in fact he was alive. A correction wasn’t issued until several hours later. Lewis’ death was announced two days later.
In August 2024, during the Democratic National Convention, TMZ claimed Beyoncé would make a surprise appearance at the convention. The rumor spread like wildfire not only online, but at the convention itself and the media. Later that evening, a representative for Beyoncé explained the singer “was never scheduled to be there.”
The Harris-Walz campaign did play the Grammy-winner’s 2016 hit “Freedom” though!
For their mistake, TMZ apologized.
As if reporting false stories wasn’t bad enough, TMZ really pushed the boundaries when on January 26, 2020 they were the first news outlet to report on the death of Kobe Bryant.
The speed with which they published a story ended up costing them as they were heavily criticized by not only the public but by Sheriff Alex Villanueva of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for publishing a story before next of kin had been notified as well as publishing photos of the crash site.
As if publishing photos from a fatal crash site wasn’t vile enough, TMZ somehow managed to outdo themselves on October 16, 2024 when they published graphic photos of Liam Payne’s dead body.
The images, which have since been removed, showed the former One Direction member’s arm, waist, and tattoos as well as a police tent set up over his body.
The article read: “TMZ obtained a photo showing Liam’s body on a wooden deck at the hotel with tables and chairs nearby. We’re not showing the whole body, but you can clearly see his tattoo – a clock on his left forearm and a scorpion on his abdomen.”
Only after widespread backlash did TMZ remove the photos and change the text, but they did not acknowledge the fact that they not only crossed the line with their reporting but they jumped way over it.
Sadly, this isn’t the first time a media outlet has printed an image of a celebrity’s dead body, but I hope it’s the last. In 1994, the Seattle Times ran a photo of Kurt Cobain’s body after he died by suicide, and though photos from the car crash that killed Princess Diana were initially sensitive in nature, in 2004 CBS’ 48 Hours aired photos of Princess Diana in the limousine with no visible injuries.
TMZ’s decision to publish graphic photos of Liam Payne’s body is a troubling reminder of how far boundaries can be pushed in the pursuit of sensationalism. While the website has built a reputation on being the first to break celebrity news, its relentless drive for speed and exclusivity has come at a significant moral cost. This latest incident underscores a growing trend of disregard for human dignity, privacy, and respect for the deceased and their loved ones. Publishing such photos crosses a line that cannot simply be retracted with a quiet apology or content removal. The media must do better.
If there’s any silver lining, it’s the hope that this backlash will force TMZ to rethink their methods and prioritize compassion and ethics over clicks and profit.
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