Simon Cowell has hit back at those who held him responsible for Liam Payne’s death.

The music mogul has defended himself following accusations that he had a part to play in the singer’s death because he put Payne in One Direction on The X Factor at the age of 16 and signed the group to his record label.

Payne, 31, tragically died in October 2024 after falling from the balcony of his Buenos Aires hotel while under the influence of alcohol, cocaine and prescription antidepressants.

During an interview with Rolling Stone, Cowell was asked if it was “hurtful” seeing some people partially blame him for the tragedy.

“I don’t read any of this stuff because if I did, you would just torture yourself,” he replied. “The idea that you are essentially responsible for somebody’s life, 10 years after you’ve signed someone? You can’t do that.”

Cowell first met Payne when he auditioned for The X Factor in 2008 at the age of 14. The judge told him to come back in two years, and the singer did so, before being put together with Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Niall Horan in One Direction.

The TV personality shared that he last saw Payne when he came over to his house a year before he died, and he seemed “in a really good place”.

“I remember saying, ‘Music is not everything. Don’t let it run your life anymore. Find something else that you are passionate about,’” he recalled. “You ask yourself that question: ‘Could I have done anything more? ?What would’ve happened to Liam if he hadn’t been in the band?’

“Having spoken to his mom and dad recently, all they kept telling me was he was so proud of what he had achieved. I wish I could turn back the clock, of course. When I spoke to him that day, I felt really good about him. I thought, “Wow, you seem in a really good place.”

One Direction went on an indefinite hiatus in 2016, and the bandmates pursued solo careers.