Liam Payne death: Waiter says he took cocaine with singer in hotel room but insists he wasn’t the dealer
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA: The heartbreaking death of former One Direction singer Liam Payne has taken a rather messy turn.
A 24-year-old Argentinian waiter named Braian Paiz has come forward with shocking details about his time with Liam just days before the singer tragically fell from a third-floor hotel balcony in Buenos Aires on October 16.
Braian Paiz says he did not sell drugs to Liam Payne
Braian Paiz attempted to set the record straight. “They say I’m the dealer, that I carried drugs, that I sold them,” he told TMZ. “And the truth is that no, no I didn’t sell them.”
While Braian admits he and Liam did cocaine and knocked back whiskey together, he insists he wasn’t Liam’s drug supplier.
Their unlikely friendship began when Liam walked into the restaurant where Braian worked. The two apparently, bonded over their shared love of drawing. Besides singing, Liam also had some artistic skills. What followed was a chaotic two-night bender just days before Liam’s death.
Braian painted a wild picture of what Liam’s hotel room looked like. He told Telefe Noticias that drugs were scattered “everywhere,” tucked into a Dove soap box and wrapped in tin foil. Still, Braian swears their antics were limited to just cocaine and whiskey.
Braian said Liam even offered him a Rolex as payment. But he turned it down. “I didn’t accept anything, just a drawing that he drew, which was part of my eyes, nose, and mouth,” he said.
“He draws. I draw. I’m studying to do it, so I had drawings," Braian added.
Braian Paiz earlier claimed something 'intimate' happened between them
Braian Piaz had earlier told Telefe Noticias, as reported by New York Post, that Liam Payne was under the influence the very first time they met.
“I’ve heard people saying he was taking drugs, but the truth is that when he got to the restaurant where I was working, he was already under the effects of drugs, and he didn’t actually eat anything,” Braian dished.
He said they met for the second time on October 13 when something "intimate" happened between them.
Paiz said, “Our second hotel meeting was on the night of Sunday, October 13. We spent the night together, we consumed drugs because the truth is that something intimate happened.”
Paiz said Liam was nothing but "sweet" to him.
“He wasn’t aggressive at all, he behaved really well with me, he was really sweet. He asked me if I was okay,” Paiz said, adding that he had text messages to prove this.
Before Braian left, Liam tried to give him some clothes as a souvenir—a pair of grey jogging bottoms and a T-shirt—but Paiz left them behind the TV.
Braian had planned for a friend (a big Liam fan) to meet the singer.
"He said ‘yes’ and after I went he appeared outside the place where I lived and managed to get halfway into the building and wanted us to go back to his hotel but I told him I couldn’t because I had to go to work," Braian said.
“That was the last time I saw him. He got into his taxi and left,” he recalled.
Police investigation into Liam Payne's death
Now, Braian Paiz is one of three people under investigation by Argentinian police. Authorities are looking into charges like “abandonment of a person followed by death” and “supply and facilitation of narcotics".
The other suspects include a hotel worker who allegedly sold Liam cocaine and a so-called “drug supplier” accused of giving him drugs just two days before his death, the New York Post reported.
This bombshell interview is part of 'TMZ Investigates: Liam Payne: Who’s to Blame?' airing Monday night, December 16, on Fox.
