The ex-fiancée of late One Direction star Liam Payne has faced a mix of praise and harassment in the wake of the celebrity’s death, renewing discourse online around how to grapple with the complicated legacy of recently deceased stars.
Before Payne’s death, Maya Henry, a 23-year-old model who dated him on and off from 2018 to 2022, shared details of their allegedly tumultuous relationship in videos on her TikTok page and in a podcast appearance — where she said Payne “started to get abusive” after they got engaged.
She said in the podcast that a novel she published in May, which detailed a woman’s abusive relationship with a pop star, was based on her real experiences with Payne, including a scene in which the woman was chased by her fiancé holding an ax. She reiterated that the book was “inspired by true events.”
Payne, 31, died last week after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, authorities said. He had never publicly addressed Henry’s allegations or her book.
In addition to her novel, Henry’s recent claims online had sparked renewed speculation and backlash against Payne in the week or so before his death.
But as people around the world mourned his sudden passing, some fans online began to blame Henry, writing in the comments of her social media accounts that they believe her allegations contributed to his death. At the same time, many fans issued messages of support for Henry, noting that she was not at fault for his actions.
A representative for Henry declined to comment. Henry has not publicly issued a statement on Payne’s death.
The scrutiny around Payne and Henry’s relationship reflects “a culture shift in terms of believing victims,” according to Jessica Maddox, an associate professor of digital media at the University of Alabama.
In the past, people who voiced similar allegations against popular celebrities after they died, or spoke ill about them, would face overwhelming backlash online, Maddox said.
In 2018, rapper XXXTentacion died in a shooting just days after a reporter interviewed him about domestic abuse charges, setting off a wave of divided reactions that continue to this day. Police have not established any link between the shooting and his charges.
And in 2020, when basketball star Kobe Bryant died, some journalists faced harassment for including details about his 2003 sexual assault case in obituaries and social media posts. (The 2003 criminal case was dropped and Bryant later settled a separate civil suit with the accuser, apologizing to her but denying the allegations.)
With Payne’s death, however, a majority of the fan base seem to be inviting more nuance into their grieving process, according to Georgia Carroll, a sociologist and expert on fan and celebrity culture.
“For fans, having these parasocial relationships means that, yeah, you’re grieving Liam, but because none of us knew him, it’s also this grief around our memories, around One Direction,” said Carroll, who described herself as a former Directioner. “Some people are saying, ‘I’m not grieving who he was when he died, I’m grieving who he was in the band,’ or ‘I’m grieving the relationship I had with the band as a teenager.’”
In the days after Payne’s death, posts about Henry became so common that her name was trending on X. She appeared to limit the ability for people to comment on her social media pages.
One Direction fans are among those who have come to Henry’s defense online, with some saying they worry that not doing so could set a precedent for any and all victims of abuse in the future.
Henry had alleged in a recent TikTok video that Payne had admitted to “prey[ing] on One Direction fans, because they will always be loyal to him and they won’t tell on him.” She also accused Payne of repeatedly messaging her from different phone numbers after their breakup.
“I would not make allegations and write things like this for PR,” Henry said in a follow-up video before Payne’s death. “This is me using my voice, my platform, to write a story and share my experiences on these topics, not only to help other women come forward with their own stories, but to help women have the bravery and use their voice to hold these men accountable.”
Questions about Henry’s relationship with Payne first entered the spotlight in May, when she published her novel “Looking Forward,” which she said evolved out of her own journal entries written throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
Some online began citing excerpts and speculating about parallels in the wake of Payne’s death, pointing out one scene in which the protagonist’s pop star fiancé begins yelling and hitting himself in their home before he runs toward the balcony, saying he wants to die and that he’s going to kill himself. Authorities are still investigating circumstances around Payne’s death and have not confirmed whether it was a suicide.
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Fans also began circulating clips of Henry’s appearance on Oct. 14 on the podcast “The Internet Is Dead.” During the interview, she said that one of Payne’s friends had warned her before her book release that Payne was “not doing well and if something happens to him, not only are you going to blame yourself but the whole world’s going to blame you.”
Henry’s recent comments about Payne prompted Abby Clarke, a law student who said she was a victim of domestic abuse, to join the wave of those supporting her. She said she was concerned that people would be fearful of speaking out in the future about their own experiences if they saw hate geared at people like Henry.
“It’s basically saying that there’s no right time that you can come out and talk about your abuse, because she didn’t talk about it for quite a while,” said Clarke, 23, who voiced her support for Payne’s former partner in a post on X. “So the idea that anytime she comes forward, you’re gonna risk something horrible happening, well, then she can never talk about it.”
In some instances, ex-partners of celebrities are harassed even if they did not make abuse or sexual violence allegations against them before their death. When musician Mac Miller died in 2018, his ex-partner Ariana Grande said she had to limit her own Instagram comments after receiving abuse and harassment from fans who sought to implicate her in Miller’s death.
The fan impulse to blame other people associated with a celebrity prior to their death is not particularly surprising. Fandoms remain “supercharged by social media,” according to Maddox.
“You can be in your fandom 24/7, and it really ties your identity to this fandom, and then it becomes so easy to attack others who don’t like your favorite the way you do,” she said. “It becomes a really toxic space.”
In the last week, many One Direction fans have been reminding each other that multiple truths can be real, and that nothing is black and white.
“There’s always going to be the debate of: Is it too soon to be discussing these things? Is it the time and place?” Carroll said. “And I think One Direction fans are doing a relatively good job of managing to keep the people who had spoken out front of mind and sending them support, while also mourning Liam and grieving for him.”