Liam Payne is alleged to have developed a drug addiction a year before his death.
The late One Direction singer, 31, died in October after falling from the third-floor balcony of his room at the Casa Sur Palermo hotel in Buenos Aires.
His suite was reportedly filled with drug paraphernalia.
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His friend Roger Norreys says in a lengthy court filing obtained by Page Six that the artist had voluntarily been in and out of rehab centers for nearly 12 months in an effort to “overcome” his apparent battle with substance abuse.
He told the newspapers: “I was a friend who loved him very much, who helped him selflessly in every possible way, who spent his own money to help him, and even then it was not enough.
“I do not believe that I deserve the allegations that are being made against me.”
Norrey has been accused of abandoning Payne before his fatal fall and was called in for questioning by a judge as part of the investigation after he detailed the late singer’s alleged addiction issues.
The document he claims is not a statement, and Norreys used it to defend himself against changes that could have sent him to prison for up to 15 years.
He said in the papers that Payne’s alleged rehabilitation stints were “not successful” – and claimed the artist had tried heroin.
The businessman also claimed that Liam had to be resuscitated several times a year until his death.
Norrey alleged in September 2023 that the former One Direction member was “suffering from severe addiction that left him close to death”.
He said that the incident happened in Milan and Liam had to be hospitalized for several days.
Norrey also claimed that Payne was hospitalized twice in London and had to be resuscitated due to “high levels of intoxication”.
