Toni Cornell, Chris Cornell's daughter, expressed disgust at how on her social media TMZ recounted the death of Liam Payne. In fact, many have attacked the American newspaper for having published photos of the former One Direction ex's lifeless body. TMZwhich has made tabloid journalism its philosophy, later decided to remove that content.
«In the aftermath of Liam Payne's tragic death, I feel compelled to speak out about the disgusting and distressing photos published by TMZwhich include explicit images of his body and his hotel room”, wrote Toni Cornell comparing this experience to that of the death of her father, who committed suicide on 18 May 2017: “Having seen those photos I can only reflect on the my experience and when TMZ he published explicit images about my father's death.”
Toni continues: «When I was 12 I came across those photos while scrolling from my iPad. It was an indescribable trauma that I still carry with me today. Seven years later TMZ he hasn't had the decency to remove them yet. I think it needs to be done. However, the fact that Liam's photos were removed means nothing. They should never have been published. It breaks my heart to think that Bear, her 7-year-old son, might see them one day and suffer like I suffered.”
Toni Cornell followed what was already said in part by Liam Payne's ex-partner, the singer Cheryl Cole, who had begged the media and the public to “leave what little dignity remained” to Payne. Cornell concludes: «I am still shocked at how the privacy of human beings and their families is not respected by the public and the media, especially during tragedies like these, where sensationalism is preferred to decency. This is not how an artist and a father should be remembered.”
A few days ago Michael Babcock, executive producer of TMZexplained the choice of the newspaper thus speaking to Fox 5: «When the photos arrived, the police had not yet confirmed that it was Liam. On TMZ an image was published, without a face, showing an arm and abdomen where some very recognizable tattoos were visible. The photo was used as a method to confirm the identity of the person, given the matching tattoos, at a time when the police had not yet expressed their opinion. Once the identity was confirmed, obviously, the photo was removed.”