Boy George expressed regret over comments he made about Liam Payne’s mental health and addiction struggles.
The Culture Club frontman spoke candidly on the “High Performance” podcast Wednesday about judging Payne after seeing a video of him just days before the former One Direction member’s death.
“I’d actually put a message under a post saying, ‘He’s off his nut,’ which wasn’t very nice, but I felt it. I felt like he was out of control,” George, 63, told hosts Jake Humphrey and Damian Hughes.
“And when [his death] happened, it just hit me. Same way that Amy Winehouse hit me because it felt so senseless,” he continued, referencing the “Rehab” singer, who died from alcohol poisoning on July 23, 2011, at the age of 27.
The “Karma Chameleon” crooner described finding out about Payne’s death on “the American news” days after making the comment.
“I literally was like, ‘What the f–k?’ I was literally like, ‘No, this isn’t real.’ I couldn’t take it in, and I think everybody felt that,” he said.
George — whose real name is George Alan O’Dowd — went on to say, “I watched the dad [Geoff Payne], and it was heartbreaking. I was quite tearful about it. I genuinely very felt sad.”
The music icon has been sober since 2008 after suffering an addiction to heroin. He also battled intense panic attacks and anxiety after finding success with Culture Club in the 1980s.
George’s interview was released shortly after Liam’s funeral in the UK. Among the guests were his former One Direction bandmates, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles and Niall Horan.
Simon Cowell, who helped form the boy band in 2010, was also at the service, as were the mother of Liam’s 7-year-old son, Bear, Cheryl Cole, and his girlfriend, Kate Cassidy.
Liam died on Oct. 16 after falling off the balcony of his third-story hotel room in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was 31.
A toxicology report revealed he was under the influence of multiple drugs — including crack, cocaine and a depressant — at the time of his death. His autopsy also said he suffered from internal and external bleeding as well as a cranial fracture.
Three people have since been charged in Liam’s death, including an alleged drug dealer, a hotel employee and an Argentine businessman who presented himself as his manager.
The employee and the alleged dealer have been charged with supplying the late singer with drugs, while the businessman was charged with abandonment and faces five to 15 years in jail.
If you or someone you care about is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).