Liam Payne‘s heartbroken girlfriend has revealed One Direction fans sent her death threats and crude comments about what she wore to the pop singer’s funeral.
Kate Cassidy, 25, said she was forced to delete her social media due to the barrage of abuse she received in the wake of the 31-year-old’s death in October last year.
Online bullies called the US influencer a ‘gold digger’ amongst other nasty insults, but Kate said she was able to shrug off the verbal attacks thanks to her experience in the showbiz world with Liam.
She told The Sun: ‘Liam would want me to be as strong as I can be, and just have a thick skin. That’s one thing he always taught me. He grew up in this life, and he always was just so positive about it and said, “Don’t let any hate get to you”.’
The One Direction star died after falling from a balcony on the third-floor of his hotel room in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he had been on holiday to see his former bandmate Niall Horan perform.
Kate had been with the singer on the trip but returned to their Florida home early to look after their rescue dog, Nala.
She broke her silence for the first time on Wednesday to dismiss cruel accusations that she abandoned Liam in Argentina before his death, adding that she had seen first-hand the harmful side of super-fandom.
Kate said: ‘I understand that some of the more negative comments come from a place of loving Liam, and concern, and caring for Liam.
Kate Cassidy (left) said she was forced to delete her social media due to the barrage of abuse she received in the wake of the Liam Payne’s death in October last year.
The US influencer revealed that One Direction fans sent her death threats and crude comments about what she wore to the pop singer’s funeral
‘So I understand that because I love Liam too. But for sure it’s hard because obviously any criticism will get to you.’
Kate, who met Liam for the first time in 2022, posted a tribute to the singer online a week after his death, describing him as ‘my best friend, the love of my life.’
She previously shared a note written by Liam before he died suggesting the couple would marry within a year and admitted she would have never left Argentina early if she knew the singer’s death would happen.
She said she knew the pair were soulmates from the very first time they met, which was when she was a waitress in South Carolina, but that she had loved him since she was 10 years old, believing that they were always meant to meet.
The devastated girlfriend called the singer the most humble and charming people she had ever met and insisted she was not to blame for the death of her partner.
Kate later left her college plans behind and became a full-time influencer, a career Liam fully supported.
Now with more than 2.5million followers, she has since moved back to New Jersey after leaving the multi-million rented mansion they shared in Florida.
A report from the States claims she has been given ‘living allowance’ and expenses totalling around £20,000-a-month since Liam’s death.
Kate has dismissed cruel accusations that she abandoned Liam before his death
Kate Cassidy said she planned to marry her ‘charming soulmate’ Liam
Kate said she had been ‘stung’ by the idea she was only with the pop star for money and fame, telling the haters their relationship was ‘nobody’s business except for me and Liam’.
She vehemently denied ever asking him for money and described their time together as ‘authentic and real’.
Kate attended Liam’s funeral at St Mary’s Church in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, on November 20 with friend Damian Hurley, son of model Elizabeth, and wore a long black dress.
The service made global news and was attended by friends, family, industry colleagues and the four other members of 1D – Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik.
Some fans of the band abused Kate over what she was wearing and claimed she had too much makeup on.
Addressing the trolls, Kate said she had ‘wanted to just look beautiful for my boyfriend one last time’ and added that the service for the singer was ‘beautiful’.
Liam had joined One Direction alongside alongside Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson when they auditioned for hit talent competition The X Factor in 2010.
They went onto become one of the world’s biggest ever boybands before announcing their split in 2016.
Kate revealed Liam was ‘proud’ of his One Direction bandmates and that he ‘loved them so much he looked at them as brothers’
Liam Payne and Kate Cassidy pose in the evian VIP Suite At Wimbledon on July 12, 2023
On October 16, the day of the One Direction star’s death, his hotel room was littered with drug paraphernalia and an opened champagne bottle
Kate was home when she received the call telling her Liam had died
Kate revealed Liam was ‘proud’ of his bandmates and that he ‘loved them so much he looked at them as brothers’.
She hinted that Liam and the boys had wanted to reunite at some point in the future before his tragic passing, saying: ‘One Direction was such a huge part of his life and he would have been more than happy in the future to do that.’
Still reeling from his death, Kate has been seeing a grief therapist and struggles to listen to Liam’s music. ‘Maybe one day,’ she said, ‘but not right now.’
Liam was staying at the Casa Sur hotel in Buenos Aires when he fell to his death after a drink-drug binge on October 16.
His medical cause of death has now been announced to be ‘polytrauma’, a term which means a person has multiple traumatic injuries to their body.
Five people have been charged over the singer’s death in Argentina after he fell from a third-floor balcony of the hotel.
The hotel’s manager, a receptionist and a friend of Payne have been charged with manslaughter, Argentina’s National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office previously said in a statement.
They are reported to be hotel manager Gilda Martin, receptionist Esteban Grassi and Payne’s friend Roger Nores. Two other people have been charged over the supply of drugs.
Due to the ongoing investigation, Kate could not divulge too much information and did not confirm whether or not she had spoken to Roger.
She insisted, however, that when she left Argentina, Liam was in ‘such a good headspace’ and the couple were more in love than ever.
