Former One Direction member Liam Payne died tragically yesterday, October 16th, at the age of 31, after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Shortly after the news of Payne’s death broke, celebrity news website TMZ bristled many by posting a cropped photo of Payne’s corpse on a wooden deck in the hotel’s courtyard.
At this point, the ongoing investigation was only just beginning as authorities worked to piece together precisely what led to Payne falling from his third-story balcony. As The Washington Post reports, TMZ‘s choice to publish a photo of Payne’s dead body was met with immediate and robust outrage, ultimately leading the gossip site to remove the picture.
“TMZ posting edited pictures of Liam Payne’s body is absolutely vile behavior and complete indefensible,” journalist and former VICE editor-in-chief Zing Tsjeng said on X, formerly known as Twitter. “What were they thinking?”
Tsjeng’s confusion and anger are shared by many across the journalism field and the broader online community.
“TMZ is trying to get clicks and ad money off a young man’s dead body just minutes after the news of his death,” added BBC journalist Shayan Sardarizadeh on X. As Saradarizadeh continues, imagine what it must be like to be one of Payne’s family and friends and see photos like that.
Initially, TMZ justified the inclusion of images by noting that it had edited the photos down to show just certain parts of Payne’s dead body, including identifying tattoos on his arm and abdomen.
After removing the images in response to the swift outcry, the gossip site replaced them with text saying that it had seen the pictures and confirmed that the deceased man was verifiably Payne.
The ethics surrounding publishing death photos is complicated, and ultimately, every situation may have mitigating factors that change the discussion. However, as the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) writes in its code of ethics, it is vital that visual journalists always “treat all subjects with respect and dignity” and “give special consideration to vulnerable subjects and compassion to victims of crime or tragedy.”
Situations when it may be justifiable to publish a photo of a dead body include stories that are invariably in the public interest or when the shocking nature of a scene is itself essential to the story and to the unfettered access of information. As many critics will attest, the case of Payne’s tragic death fits none of these situations, and TMZ‘s use of the images is gratuitous.
Whether TMZ agrees with the criticisms against it or not, the publication ultimately removed the photos. However, this is not the first time the website has come under fire for how it has handled celebrity deaths and tragedy. As Washington Post notes, TMZ infamously broke the news of Kobe Bryant, his daughter, and seven others dying in a helicopter crash in 2020 before authorities could notify next of kin. TMZ has also faced criticism for publishing graphic details surrounding celebrity suicides, with many calling the publication’s reports sensationalist, explicit, and disrespectful. Reporting suicide details also goes against the Center for Disease Control’s recommendations for reporting on suicide. The latest perceived misstep is a continuation of a pattern that has attracted harsh rebukes over many years.
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.