Lamar Odom hopes Liam Payne’s death is a “wake-up call” for the entertainment industry.
The former basketball star — who almost died following a 2015 overdose but is now sober and helps other addicts — has spoken out after sources claimed early autopsy reports found the One Direction singer had several drugs in his system when he died after falling from his hotel balcony in Argentina last on Oct. 16. Odom warned that such substances “don’t discriminate.”
“I hope this is a wake-up call for everyone in the industry — Hollywood, music, sports — that drugs don’t discriminate. Age, race, color, creed. So hopefully this is a wake-up call for everyone,” he told TMZ.
Odom admitted he had taken all of the drugs Payne was believed to have used, including pink cocaine — a mixture of substances including ketamine, methamphetamine and ecstasy — and crack. Odom fears the “Strip That Down” hitmaker may have been hallucinating as a result, as that was what happened to the ex-ball player.
“Drugs could cause you to hallucinate. And if he was in a hallucination state, who knows what would happen,” Odom said.
“I mean, if you’re hearing voices, it’s hard to escape those voices. So, God forbid if those voices tell him to do something that leads to his fate. That would be a shame,” he added when asked to describe his experiences with the drugs.
Shortly before Payne’s death, the hotel staff had called emergency services and asked them to “send someone with urgency” to deal with a guest they alleged was “drunk with drugs and alcohol.”
“We need to send someone with urgency because I don’t know if the guest’s life is in danger because he is in a room with a balcony, and we are afraid he could do something that threatens life,” the staff member added.
Although authorities arrived just seven minutes later, Payne’s body was found in the hotel’s inner courtyard and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
A preliminary autopsy report noted 25 injuries and ruled the star had died from “multiple traumas” and “internal and external bleeding.”
