Toni Cornell, daughter of late Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, has shared a statement criticizing TMZ for its coverage of the death of former One Direction star Liam Payne.
In its original story, TMZ posted cropped photos of Payne’s body after he fell from the third floor of his hotel room in Argentina on Oct. 16. In a since-expired Instagram Story captured by Billboard and NME, Toni called the photos “disgusting” and “distressing,” noting, “I can’t help but reflect on my own experience when graphic images of my father’s death were also published by TMZ.”
Toni, who was 12 when Chris passed away in 2017, writes that accidentally stumbling upon those photos was “indescribably traumatizing, and something I still carry with me to this day.”
“TMZ still has not chosen to have the decency, seven years later, to remove those photos from the internet, and it is something I believe should be done,” Toni writes. “While the images of Liam have since been taken down, it means nothing. They should never have been put up in the first place, and it breaks my heart to think that his 7 year old son, Bear, might one day come across them and suffer exactly as I did.”
“This isn’t how an artist or a father should be remembered,” she concluded. “I’m sending so much love and support to Liam’s family and loved ones during this incredibly painful time.”