Piers Morgan has fired back after a segment on his show that discussed the death of Liam Payne came under fire from viewers.
The pop star’s sudden death was up for discussion on Talk TV’s Piers Morgan Uncensored earlier this week (October 22). However, the segment quickly received criticism online.
In Tuesday’s instalment of his YouTube programme, Piers was joined by Howie Mandel, Liam’s friend and former X Factor co-star Katie Waissel, radio star James Barr and broadcaster Esther Krakue.
Piers started by detailing the late singer’s preliminary toxicology report that said that Liam had substances “including cocaine, crack and benzodiazepine,” in his system at the time of his death.
Death of Liam Payne discussed by Piers Morgan
Former America’s Got Talent judge Howie argued that, while on shows such as Got Talent and X Factor “if we feel that somebody is going south a little bit, there is somebody to watch over them and talk to them”. He added: “This is not a talent thing. In fact, Liam, if he came to a talent thing, his outcome was great. The people who are rejected have the harder time.”
Piers then commented: “Howie, let me bring in Katie. What I will say there about Liam, who I didn’t know very well. I know some members of the band One Direction much better. Niall is a good friend of mine and so on. Clearly Niall and Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson, they’ve all built incredibly successful solo careers. I’ve covered many boy bands over the years, some of them end up doing better than others when they go solo.
“At what point does Simon Cowell or the team on X Factor 15 years ago, have an ongoing duty of care to someone like Liam, who is now 31, leading his own life, no longer working for them for a very long time?”
Howie interrupted shouting: “Nothing, nothing, nothing.”
‘What did you expect when you went on the show?’
After Katie claimed that there was “no duty of care” during her time on The X Factor, Piers interrupted and said: “You came 10th on X Factor. Then you did some other reality show after that. So clearly it couldn’t have been that awful or you wouldn’t have done another reality show. Why put yourself back in it?
“As a contestant, what do you expect going on these shows?” he probed. “Very few people end up getting to the final stages or doing great at them. It’s a platform and some go on to stardom.”
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