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TMZ Posts, Then Removes, Liam Payne Death Photos After Backlash

Though the site is known to push ethical boundaries in obtaining its traffic-friendly scoops, it's a line that even it does not typically cross.

TMZ has drawn outrage for publishing cropped photos of Liam Payne’s body taken after the One Direction singer fell to his death from the roof of a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Singer Alessia Carra wrote, “You’re gross @TMZ.” The sentiments were echoed across the social media platform by horrified fans still in shock from news of Payne’s death. Because Princess Diana’s fatal car wreck in 1997 was the result of fleeing paparazzi, photos of the scene were particularly sensitive and an unofficial media blackout was immediately put in place.

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