Liam Payne’s dad Geoff Payne is being sued by the late singer’s friend (Picture: Getty)

Geoff Payne, the father of Liam Payne, is being sued for defamation by the late singer’s friend Roger Nores.

The former One Direction star died in October 2024 at the age of 31 after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires and now his friend Roger – who was with him in the Argentinian city – has decided to take his late friend’s dad to court.

He has claimed that Geoff’s ‘false and defamatory’ statements about him to a prosecutor led to his arrest and manslaughter charges being placed upon him.

The singer’s father had claimed in ‘sworn declarations’ to police that Roger was part of a ‘care group’ dedicated to his son because he ‘could not be left alone in the vulnerable situation in which he was’.

Now, the former manager has said that the declarations are ‘false, contained material omissions, and many parts were not based on personal knowledge’.

According to the lawsuit – which was filed on Wednesday in Florida – Roger is seeking damages of $10million, while he insisted he and the Strip That Down hitmaker were ‘mutual dear friends’ and nothing more.

Roger Nores is taking legal action against Payne’s father Geoff Payne (Picture: Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Geoff has been accused of ‘defamation’ (Picture: Luciano Gonzalez/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Roger claimed that Geoff’s statements impacted his reputation in ‘mega proportions with extensive damages’.

But, according to Roger, the ‘net financial proceeds of the judicial proceedings’ will be ‘for the benefit of Liam Payne’s son’ Bear, who he had with Girls Aloud singer Cheryl.

He told Rolling Stone: ‘All the proceeds will be donated to my friend’s son.

‘Geoff needs to backtrack on his [sworn] statement as he very well knows I wasn’t Liam’s nurse or caretaker.

Tearful fans sing One Direction hits in unison at Liam Payne memorial in London

Nores described Payne as a ‘dear friend’ (Picture: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for ABA)
‘Liam, who I miss every day, was my dear friend and an independent, brilliant, respectful free man who did whatever he wanted whenever he wanted.’

In November, Roger told how he saw Payne less than an hour before his fatal fall, as he dismissed claims police had raided his home in connection to the tragedy.

He told MailOnline: ‘I never abandoned Liam, I went to his hotel three times that day and left 40 minutes before this happened.

‘There were over 15 people at the hotel lobby chatting and joking with him when I left. I could have never imagined something like this would happen.

Roger saw Payne less than an hour before his death (Picture: Image Press Agency/NurPhoto/Shutterstock)
‘I’ve given my statement to the prosecutor on October 17 as a witness and I haven’t spoken to any police officer or prosecutor ever since.’

At the time, he said he ‘wasn’t Liam’s manager’, referring to the pop star as a ‘very dear friend’.

‘I wasn’t Liam’s manager, he was just my very dear friend and please refer to the email I sent to Liam and his team on August 23.

‘I’m really heart-broken with this tragedy, and I’ve been missing my friend every day.’

Who is Rogelio ‘Roger’ Nores?

Rogelio ‘Roger’ Nores is a 35-year-old multimillionaire businessman and manager.

He initially rose to fame in 2017 when his work in the energy industry earned him a spot on Forbes magazine’s 30 Under 30 list.

He made his name in the energy industry (Picture: Bloomberg via Getty Images)
It’s said he first met Liam Payne at a dinner in 2020, and they were linked both professionally and personally in recent years.

However, he has strongly denied any suggestion he acted as his ‘de facto’ manager.

‘I wasn’t Liam’s manager,’ he said after the singer’s death. ‘He was just my very dear friend.’

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