Liam Payne’s father, Geoff Payne, is being sued for £7.8 million in a defamation case filed by Rogelio ‘Roger’ Nores, a close friend of the late singer. Nores claims that he has been unfairly blamed for Payne’s tragic death, which occurred last year in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The former One Direction star died on 16 October after falling from a third-floor balcony at the CasaSur Palermo hotel.
Nores, an American businessman, was one of the last people to see Payne alive. Last month, he was charged with manslaughter following allegations that he had “abandoned [Liam] to his luck, knowing that he was incapable of fending for himself and suffered from multiple addictions,” according to Judge Laura Bruniard. Additionally, four hotel staff members were charged in connection with Payne’s death.
However, Nores is now fighting back, accusing Geoff Payne of making “misleading, false, and defamatory” statements to the Buenos Aires police, which he argues led to his arrest and the manslaughter charges. In the lawsuit, filed in Palm Beach, Florida, Nores is seeking more than £7.8 million in damages, with all proceeds directed to Payne’s son, Bear.
The lawsuit demands that Geoff Payne retract and correct his statements. It states, “Defendant Geoff’s false Relevant Contents of the Two Sworn Declarations were and are the proximate cause of the Plaintiff’s injury and damages, including damage to Plaintiff’s reputation.”
Nores claims that Geoff falsely stated to police that he and Kate Cassidy, Payne’s girlfriend, were responsible for Liam’s care. Nores insists that while he was a dear friend to Payne, he was not his caretaker and had no legal obligation to look after him. Furthermore, Nores denies Geoff’s claims that he took Payne to a new psychiatrist in Florida after Dr. Rohaidy resigned, as well as the allegation that he misled the psychiatrist about Payne’s struggles with alcohol and drugs to obtain new prescriptions. Nores vehemently denies these claims, stating that no such psychiatrist existed and calling Geoff’s account “100 percent fiction.”
Geoff also reportedly told police that Liam had been ‘left alone’ and had ‘no phone’, and that he could only be contacted by Nores or Kate Cassidy. Nores refutes this, arguing that Liam was often left alone in Florida, but always had his own phone, except for a brief period when he broke it during an argument with Cassidy.