An Argentinian waiter has admitted taking drugs with Liam Payne in his hotel room before his death, but insists he did not take any money for it.
Braian Nahuel Paiz has spoken out after being arrested in connection with the death of Liam Payne, who fell from the third floor balcony of a Buenos Aires hotel.
The 24-year-old met Liam at the restaurant he worked at for two nights before his tragic death and claims they drank whiskey and did cocaine those nights.
Paiz has been arrested on charges of supplying and facilitating narcotics, but has denied any involvement in Liam’s death.
Now, ahead of an upcoming documentary titled TMZ Investigates: Liam Payne: Who’s to Blame?, Paiz admitted to using cocaine with Liam, but denied accepting money for drugs, including a Rolex watch.
“They say I’m the dealer, that I transport drugs, that I sold them and the truth is I didn’t sell them,” Paiz told TMZ.
When asked if he did drugs with Liam the night he met the star, Paiz added: ‘Yes, he did. There was cocaine, there wasn’t even much, but we did have some with whiskey.”
‘The second night too. The soapbox and some aluminum foil were already there, the drugs were scattered everywhere.’
Paiz told TMZ that he didn’t accept Liam’s money for the drugs and claimed the One Direction star wanted to offer him his Rolex but he turned down the offer.
‘I didn’t accept it. I didn’t accept anything, just a picture he drew that was part of my eyes and nose mouth,” he added.
A photo shows Paiz with Liam Payne, reportedly during their first arranged meeting at a hotel
Liam posted the last message on Snapchat before falling to his death from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires
The paraphernalia was left in Liam’s room when police entered the hotel suite. Paiz admitted the couple ‘used drugs together’
On October 16, Liam, who was just 31, fell 13 meters from the third floor balcony of Room 10 at the CasaSur hotel in the upscale Palermo district, where he had been staying for the past three days as part of a two-week trip. to the South American capital.
He was there to see his former One Direction bandmate Niall Horan in a solo show at the 15,000-capacity Movistar Arena on October 2.
Paiz has previously discussed the allegations against him. Appearing on Argentinian TV last month, he claimed he first met Liam at the restaurant where he worked in the posh Puerto Madero area.
He said he exchanged contact information with the singer while having dinner with his girlfriend Kate Cassidy and two other people.
He spoke in an on-camera interview with journalist Guillermo Panizza, who at certain points had to explain to a program presenter in the studio what Paiz meant to say when the young man’s nerves seemed to get the better of him.
After first encountering Liam at the restaurant where he worked, Paiz said he next saw him on October 2 at an arranged meeting at a hotel where the singer was staying.
“I never medicated Liam,” he said. ‘Liam’s first contact with me was at work.
‘We exchanged information and saw each other later that evening. It was all normal. He came out of his hotel room to pick me up because I was lost.”
An Instagram post from 24-year-old Braian Nahuel Paiz, standing next to the late Liam Payne before he fell in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The message reads: “Fly high, chief. Thank you for enlightening me and entering my reality. I will always remember you’
Paiz is in an ongoing criminal investigation and has admitted to having two hotel meetings with the 31-year-old
A drone shot shows the balcony of the CasaSur Hotel where Payne fell to his death
Liam looks at his laptop in the lobby of the CasaSur Hotel in Buenos Aires on Wednesday at 4:26 p.m. After his fall, the alarm was raised at 5:04 p.m
He called the hotel where they first met the “Hyatt in Palermo,” adding, “We got together there and he showed me some of the music he was going to release.
‘I’ve heard people say he was on drugs, but the truth is that when he arrived at the restaurant where I worked, he was already under the influence of drugs and wasn’t really eating anything.
‘There was a moment when he approached me and asked for my contact details. I gave him an Instagram and then he messaged me because he wanted to do drugs even though he had already done drugs.
‘It was October 2. While I was in his room we had some shots of whiskey.”
The TV show showed viewers a photo of him and Liam together, which was reportedly taken during their first hotel meeting
Paiz said they met at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel on October 13, three days before Liam’s death.
“We spent the night together, we did drugs because the truth is something intimate happened,” he said.
‘He wasn’t aggressive at all, he behaved very well towards me, he was very sweet. He asked me if I was okay.
‘I have all the messages where we arranged that second meeting. I didn’t delete anything.’
Paiz claimed he did not take any money from the singer.
Liam arrives at the UK premiere of ‘All Of Those Voices’ at Cineworld Leicester Square on March 16, 2023
A large crowd gathers in London to honor the former One Direction star
“We used drugs together, but I never brought drugs to him or took any money,” he said.
‘I have messages of him offering me money because apparently he was used to offering money for everything, but I never accepted anything.
‘When I left, he wanted to give me some clothes so I could have a memory of the time I was with him, but I left it behind the TV because I didn’t want to take it with me. They were gray sweatpants and a T-shirt.
‘I told Liam that a best friend of mine wanted to meet him because he was a fan. He said ”yes” and after I went he showed up outside the place where I lived and managed to get halfway into the building and wanted us to go back to his hotel but I told him I couldn’t because I had to go home. work.
‘I was supposed to start at 11.30 am, but I had to be there earlier. That was the last time I saw him. He got into his taxi and left.”
Paiz is said to have grown up in Berazategui, a working-class neighborhood several miles south of the city center, The Mail previously reported.
In Berazategui he had a reputation for partying hard. Aldana, a childhood friend, told us, “Braian and I met at a rave eight years ago.
“He was an outgoing boy who loved partying and ecstasy.”
Paiz started his career as a hairstylist in the film industry.
Recently, however, he tried to make it as a model and actor, supporting himself by waiting tables at Las Lilas.
The day after Liam’s death, Paiz posted two selfies taken with the singer, alongside the caption: ‘Fly high, chief. Thank you for enlightening me and entering my reality. I will always remember you. See you on the other side’. He completed the tribute with a heart emoji.
The tender post was met with anger by Liam’s fans, who apparently blamed him for supplying at least some of the drugs that led to their idol’s death.
One user commented: ‘You are a murderer.’ Another said: ‘THIS IS SICK.’ Paiz later turned off the comments to stem this tide of vitriol.
Paiz later posted another photo of herself with Liam, alongside a rambling caption that read, “I will clear my name. . . I AM NOT THE DEALER.’
Paiz and a 21-year-old hotel worker named Ezequiel David Pereyra remain under investigation by Argentine authorities.
He has surrendered his passport to the police and is waiting to see whether he will be prosecuted in court.
The third man accused is millionaire energy magnate and friend of Payne, Roger ‘Rogelio’ Nores, who denies that “any person was abandoned followed by death.”
The One Direction star’s death sent shockwaves around the world, raising major questions about the well-being of young artists thrust into the spotlight at a young age.
Payne first auditioned for the X Factor when he was just 14.