Liam Payne’s secret struggle as he was in process of resigning as director of his four music firms

Former One Direction singer Liam Payne was in the process of resigning from his music firms on the day he fell from the third-floor balcony at a hotel in Buenos Aires

Liam Payne was in the process of resigning as the director of his four music firms on the day of his death.

The One Direction star fell to his death aged 31 from the third-floor balcony at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel while he was on holiday in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In the hours leading up to his death, he was seen reading emails on his personal laptop in the lobby of the hotel.

Staff at the hotel Casa Sur Palmero had escorted Liam to his room after becoming concerned about his behaviour, and had also called emergency services. In the call, made on October 16, workers told operators that the father-of-one had been seen 'acting erratically in the hotel lobby and smashed his laptop', according to local reports.

And now, it has been reported that he had filed papers to resign as the director of four of his companies. In newly-shared documents on Companies House, it showed the late singer filed papers to resign as a director from the firms he got some of his income through for recordings and live shows.

One firm, called Hampton Music Ltd, was valued at £17,300 last year. Another, Hampton Record Ltd, was worth £300,000 in 2022 and decreased to below £75,000. Long Play Touring LLP also went from £135,000 in 2022 to £17,000 last year. Another firm, Hampton Publishing Ltd, was valued at only £729.

The 31-year-old singer, who was in One Direction, is said to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time when he fainted in his room at the Casa Sur Hotel on October 16. Broadcast journalist Paula Varela said: "There is footage that is not being released to the media with the balcony scene where you see that Liam faints and tragically because of where he is, falls from that balcony. If he had been beside his bed he would have fallen on his bed."

The footage is part of a horrific sequence of CCTV, it is understood. Ms Varela, 45, says it indicates Liam did not jump deliberately from the balcony. However, authorities continue to investigate the star's death.

Father-of-one Liam was on holiday in Argentina with his girlfriend Kate Cassidy for several weeks before she returned to the US days before his death. The couple even attended old pal Niall Horan's concert together at the beginning of the month. Prosecutors said in a statement after Liam’s death they believed he was in “in a state of semi or total unconsciousness" during a substance-induced 'psychotic episode' when he fell.

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