A close friend of Liam Payne has revealed to Sky News the final messages the singer sent her in the hours leading up to his death on Wednesday.
Jodie Richards, who taught the former One Direction star at her performing arts company Pink Productions in Wolverhampton, said she thought the news that he’d died after falling from a balcony in Buenos Aires was “fake” and she tried to call him on Wednesday night.
Liam, 31, had messaged Jodie on Monday to ask her what she was doing. She replied to say she was with her son, Jackson, at a gym, and Liam replied “nice”.
He later sent her a photo of himself sitting on his bed in his hotel room in the Argentinian capital, with his hand to his forehead. She replied: “Sorry just home x.”
Jodie told Sky News: “I’m really close to Liam, we’ve been friends for years and he was away yesterday in Argentina and I think he just wanted to touch base and check I was okay, see how everyone was back at home.
“We speak near enough every day and have done for years. Obviously he’s always been there at times I’ve needed him even though he’s not local.”
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On Wednesday, Liam messaged Jodie in the early hours of the morning UK time to ask if she was awake – she later replied that she was at 8.20am.
She asked if he was okay, he replied “yeah” and she told him she’d just got to work. He told her he was “chilling” in Argentina.
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“He was looking forward to his day, he said he was having a chill, nothing seemed out of the ordinary”, the 41-year-old, from the West Midlands, said.
Image: Liam Payne with Jodie Richards. Pic: Jodie Richards
Image: Pic: Jodie Richards
“He’s always somewhere more glamorous than we are so LA, Argentina, I have to look at the time difference to see where he is, he usually texts me and it’s the middle of our night.
“He seemed fine, he looked happy, he looked healthy – no reason for any kind of concern and then obviously I heard it on the news.”
Image: Liam Payne with Jodie’s son Jackson. Pic: Jodie Richards
‘Tell me this isn’t true’
Jodie said she “couldn’t believe” what was happening.
“I thought it was fake news, I tried to phone him. Obviously he wasn’t answering. I tried to text him, it wasn’t going to a ‘read’ message – normally it does quite quickly, then as I turned the telly on it was getting more and more apparent it wasn’t fake.”
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2:04
The life of Liam Payne
Jodie texted Liam, saying: “Please tell me this isn’t true!”
“It’s a wicked waste of a life, he had a future ahead of him,” she said, adding that “family, friends, everyone loved him. It’s a real tragedy not only for us as friends and family but the whole world who know him as a celebrity and a pop singer.
“Obviously he’s got a very supportive mum and dad, his two sisters, I know he speaks very highly of Cheryl [Tweedy], he’s got a girlfriend… he’s got enough people to reach out to and he would have.
“He’s always got help if he needed it but as far as I’m concerned he was in a good place with everything going on in his personal life and his career as well, he had new things on the horizon on the telly and he seemed happy.”
Jodie said she would remember him as a “cheeky chappy” who would “make everyone laugh”.
“I just want people to look at Liam, look at everything, the legacy he’s left through X Factor, all his charity work and just remember him for the absolute idol he is.”
:: Anyone feeling emotionally distressed can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
Russell Brand has been charged with rape and two counts of sexual assault between 1999 and 2005.
The Metropolitan Police say the 50-year-old comedian, actor and author has also been charged with one count of oral rape and one count of indecent assault.
The charges relate to four women.
He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday 2 May.
Police have said Brand is accused of raping a woman in the Bournemouth area in 1999 and indecently assaulting a woman in the Westminster area of London in 2001.
He is also accused of orally raping and sexually assaulting a woman in Westminster in 2004.
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1:59
Ashna Hurynag discusses Russell Brand’s charges
The fourth charge alleges that a woman was sexually assaulted in Westminster between 2004 and 2005.
Police began investigating Brand, from Oxfordshire, in September 2023 after receiving a number of allegations.
The comedian has denied the accusations and said he has “never engaged in non-consensual activity”.
He added in a video on X: “Of course, I am now going to have the opportunity to defend these charges in court, and I’m incredibly grateful for that.”
Metropolitan Police Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy, who is leading the investigation, said: “The women who have made reports continue to receive support from specially trained officers.
“The Met’s investigation remains open and detectives ask anyone who has been affected by this case, or anyone who has any information, to come forward and speak with police.”
Tom Cruise has paid tribute to Val Kilmer, wishing his Top Gun co-star “well on the next journey”.
Cruise, speaking at the CinemaCon film event in Las Vegas on Thursday, asked for a moment’s silence to reflect on the “wonderful” times shared with the star, whom he called a “dear friend”.
Kilmer, who died of pneumonia on Tuesday aged 65, rocketed to fame starring alongside Cruise in the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun, playing Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky, a rival fighter pilot to Cruise’s character Maverick.
Image: Tom Cruise said ‘I wish you well on the next journey’. Pic: AP
Image: Val Kilmer in 2017. Pic: AP
His last part was a cameo role in the 2022 blockbuster sequel Top Gun: Maverick.
Cruise, on stage at Caesars Palace on Thursday, said: “I’d like to honour a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer. I can’t tell you how much I admire his work, how grateful and honoured I was when he joined Top Gun and came back later for Top Gun: Maverick.
“I think it would be really nice if we could have a moment together because he loved movies and he gave a lot to all of us. Just kind of think about all the wonderful times that we had with him.
“I wish you well on the next journey.”
The moment of silence followed a string of tributes from Hollywood figures including Cher, Francis Ford Coppola, Antonio Banderas and Michelle Monaghan.
Kilmer’s daughter Mercedes told the New York Times on Wednesday that the actor had died from pneumonia.
Image: Tom Cruise at Caesars Palace on Thursday. Pic: AP
Diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, Kilmer discussed his illness and recovery in his 2020 memoir Your Huckleberry and Amazon Prime documentary Val.
He underwent radiation and chemotherapy treatments for the disease and also had a tracheostomy which damaged his vocal cords and permanently gave him a raspy speaking voice.
Kilmer played Batman in the 1995 film Batman Forever and received critical acclaim for his portrayal of rock singer Jim Morrison in the 1991 movie The Doors.
He also starred in True Romance and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, as well as playing criminal Chris Shiherlis in Michael Mann’s 1995 movie Heat and Doc Holliday in the 1993 film Tombstone.
In 1988 he married British actress Joanne Whalley, whom he met while working on fantasy adventure Willow.
The couple had two children before divorcing in 1996.
Bruce Springsteen is to release seven albums of mostly unheard material this summer.
The US singer said the songs, written and re-recorded between 1983 and 2018, were being made public after he began completing “everything I had in my vault” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a short video posted on Instagram, Springsteen said the albums were “records that were full records, some of them even to the point of being mixed and not released”.
The 83-song collection is being released in a box set called Tracks II: The Lost Albums and goes on sale on 27 June.
Some 74 of the tracks have never been heard before.
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Springsteen first teased the release on Wednesday morning with a short social media video accompanied by text which said: “What was lost has been found”.
Tracks II is the follow-up to the star’s first Tracks volume, a four-CD collection of 66 unreleased songs, released in 1998.
Image: Bruce Springsteen at New York’s Carnegie Hall at a tribute to Patti Smith last month. Pic: PA
The New Jersey-born rocker, nicknamed The Boss, last released a studio album in 2022.
Only the Strong Survive was a collection of covers, including songs by Motown and soul artists, such as the Four Tops, The Temptations, The Supremes, Frankie Wilson and Jimmy Ruffin.
The late soul legend Sam Moore, who died in January and was a frequent Springsteen collaborator, sang on two of the tracks.