The Darkness’ Justin Hawkins has addressed a previous video he made criticising Liam Payne, and opened up about why he isn’t going to remove the post in light of the singer’s death.
The frontman initially spoke about Payne on his hugely popular Justin Hawkins Rides Again YouTube channel, which sees him elaborate on his time in the music industry and weigh in his thoughts on news-worthy events and new releases.
Back in March 2023, Hawkins shared a video in which he looked at previous interviews that Payne had done, and criticised some of his behaviour as coming across as “arrogant”. A large segment of the video centred around the divisive discussion Payne had with Logan Paul, in which he recalled the formation of One Direction and implied that he was meant to be seen as the main member in the line-up.
Although Hawkins seemed to defend Payne to an extent – describing him as his “favourite” member and sympathising with him as one whose brand “suffered the most post-One Direction” – the comments made were brought to light once again following the singer’s death earlier this year.
Payne died on October 16 at the age of 31, after falling from a third-floor balcony at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Argentinian prosecutor’s office has since shared that his cause of death was due to multiple traumas and internal and external bleeding, and later preliminary toxicology tests revealed that Payne had pink cocaine and several other substances in his system at the time of his fatal balcony fall.
Three people were soon charged in connection with his death, and the case is still ongoing.
Now, in a new video on his channel, Hawkins has taken a look back at some of the comments he has received from viewers regarding the video in light of the singer’s passing. Many of them criticise him for sharing his opinion at the time, and some go as far as calling for him to remove the video as he now has “blood on his hands”.
Explaining why he has no intention of removing the post, Hawkins shared how, while it is “sad” what happened to the artist, it doesn’t change his views on “those specific behaviours”.
“I didn’t see that Liam situation coming. I didn’t pay enough attention to his career to recognise that there were signs of mental instability,” Hawkins explained after listing some of the comments.
“I just thought it was somebody who wasn’t coping with fame or was trying to big themselves up or come across as something that was a little bit inauthentic. That’s what I was highlighting.”
He continued: “I don’t think I actually said [much], it was just watching some videos where he was obviously behaving like a bellend. As simple as that. There are videos of just about every artist in the world who hits a low ebb or on a bad day where they get interviewed and they make themselves seem like pricks. There just seems to be more of them with Liam at my disposal for that particular episode.”
Hawkins went on to explain the reason he “didn’t take it down”, adding: “Why would I do that? Why would I pretend that I hadn’t observed those things?”
He said: “It’s really sad what happened to him, but at the end of the day, it’s not going to change my view on those specific behaviours. Everybody’s complex and there are layers to this and laughing at some stuff that’s laughable… that’s what I do. It’s what I’ll always do.”
In the video, he also read out a comment from a fan who explained that people’s “sensitivity” towards his 2023 video would be justified if he had shared it following Payne’s death, and said that he “totally agrees” with those who think the original video should remain on YouTube.
This isn’t the first time that The Darkness singer has made headlines for his discussions on the channel. Last year, for instance, he got people talking after he reflected on the moment he may have unintentionally “soured” his relationship with Robbie Williams.
More recently, the singer has announced his new album with The Darkness, ‘Dreams On Toast’. Set for release in March next year, it will mark the band’s eighth studio LP and the follow-up to 2021’s ‘Motorheart’.
So far, two tracks have been released from the record: Queen-inspired lead single ‘The Longest Kiss’, and self-deprecating track ‘I Hate Myself’, which arrived this morning (December 10). Details of a 2025 UK tour were also shared in September, marking their biggest headline shows in the UK in years.
As for Payne, former One Direction bandmate Zayn Malik paid tribute to him on the first night of his UK tour, and later dedicated a song to him while performing in his Wolverhampton hometown. This followed Payne’s funeral on November 20.
