Petition to protect artists’ mental health after Liam Payne’s death reaches 120,000 signatures
A petition calling for legislation to protect the mental health of artists in the entertainment industry, following the death of Liam Payne, has received more than 120,000 signatures.
The One Direction star died aged 31 after falling from a third-floor balcony of the Casa Sur Hotel in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, last week.
It comes as musicians including former boyband singer Robbie Williams and The X Factor star Katie Waissel have said better care and support for young artists is needed following Payne’s death.
The petition, launched on Change.org last week by a fan of Payne, seeks to “implore lawmakers to create legislation safeguarding the mental health of artists within the industry”.
It calls for legislation, dubbed Liam’s Law, which would necessitate “regular mental health check-ups, adequate rest periods and the presence of mental health professionals on-set, including any ongoing support during their career”.
Payne previously said he struggled with alcoholism at the peak of his success, describing hitting “rock bottom” to The Diary Of A CEO podcast host Steven Bartlett, before saying in 2023 that he was sober after going into rehab.
Following his death, Waissel, who was on the same season of The X Factor in 2010 along with the other One Direction members, urged for the “care and support necessary for the wellbeing of young artists” to be a priority.
The 38-year-old also wrote on Instagram: “Liam, I am so deeply sorry for all that you went through.
“Your spirit will live on in the hearts of so many, and your story will continue to be told. The change the industry so desperately needs will come, and we will honour your legacy until it does. Keep singing in the sky, my friend.”
Robbie Williams, who called for greater kindness and empathy following the death of Payne on social media, also told Deadline that young stars should be protected.
The singer said: “Nothing seems to change and if isn’t me, then who?… I am the problem if I do nothing. We are the problem if we don’t.”
He opened up about his mental health breakdown and addictions after rising to fame with Take That in a Netflix documentary earlier this year.
Former X Factor judge Sharon Osbourne also said the music industry had failed the One Direction star, writing in an Instagram post: “Liam, my heart aches. We all let you down. Where was this industry when you needed them?
“You were just a kid when you entered one of the toughest industries in the world. Who was in your corner.”
Payne first auditioned for The X Factor in 2008 when he was 14, singing Frank Sinatra’s Fly Me To The Moon, before he returned to the show two years later aged 16 and was put into One Direction alongside Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Harry Styles, who went on to be one of the biggest boybands in the world.
A post-mortem examination report said Payne died of multiple traumas and “internal and external haemorrhage”.
Argentina’s National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office No 16 previously said it was investigating the incident as an “inconclusive death”.
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