Liam Payne’s energy fund tycoon pal apologized to hotel guests for star’s behavior before death: ‘He just gets so high’
Liam Payne’s “irritated” friend — an Argentine energy fund tycoon — had reportedly apologized to hotel guests for the One Direction star being “high” before he plunged to his death from his balcony, a witness has claimed.
The 31-year-old singer was spotted hanging around with his pal, Rogelio “Roger” Nores, in the lobby of CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires Wednesday evening in the lead up to his fatal fall, the Daily Mail reported.
A frustrated Nores had apparently been trying to coax Payne into the elevator so they could return to his third-floor room, grab his things and then check out, a woman claiming to be a guest at the hotel told the outlet.
“Roger seemed definitely irritated with Liam because Liam was clearly high. Roger was rolling his eyes at Liam and then he gave us a look as if to say, ‘err sorry, can you believe this guy?'” said the woman, identified only as Rebecca.
“So, Roger was standing in the lift, trying to get Liam to go up to his room but Liam was trying to get fan attention.”
The guest, who was described as a 28-year-old IT consultant from Washington, added that Nores was slightly visible in a surveillance photo that surfaced Thursday showing Payne waiting outside the elevator doors.
“Roger was holding the lift door open urging Liam to go to his room. You can see Roger’s arm holding the ‘door open’ button on the lift. Then they took the elevator up to the third floor,” she said.
“Some time later Roger stormed out of the hotel and apologized for Liam’s behavior. He said, ‘I’m sorry about Liam, he just gets so high.’ Roger then walked out and left the hotel,” the guest claimed.
Follow along with The Post’s coverage of Liam Payne’s tragic death at 31
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The woman said she believed Nores had already left by the time Payne fell from his balcony — fracturing his skull and dying instantly.
The guest told the outlet the encounter with the singer unfolded while she was waiting in the lobby with her friend, who was supposed to be checking into Payne’s hotel room.
“One of my friends was due to get his suite, so the hotel staff were a little on edge because he still hadn’t checked out at 4:30 p.m., but also because of his behavior,” she claimed.
First responders rushed to the hotel about an hour later after a hotel manager reported that a guest — whom he described as being under the influence of “drugs and alcohol” — was destroying his room and “putting his life at risk.”
“When he’s conscious, he’s breaking up the whole room. And, well, we need you to send someone, please,” the manager said in an audio recording of the call.
When first responders rushed to the scene, they found Payne’s body in the hotel’s inner courtyard and his room in complete disarray with the TV smashed and drug paraphernalia scattered throughout.
