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Boohoo! Several disgruntled and livid One Direction fans cried foul upon seeing Simon Cowell shed tears at Liam Payne’s funeral, bringing up the hurt he must have caused the members while they were still together in the world-famous band.
The record executive, who mentored and signed Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, and Zayn Malik to his label Syco Records following their X Factor days, showed up at the private service at St. Mary’s Church in Amersham, north-west of London on Wednesday. He was accompanied by his partner Lauren Silverman.
During his arrival, Simon was still able to hold it in as he greeted the other attendees. But when he came face-to-face with Liam’s parents, Geoff and Karen, he lost control of his emotions as he immediately broke down in tears, prompting the bereaved couple to comfort him, as seen in photos released by Page Six.
But while Simon gained the sympathy of many people on the internet over his emotional breakdown at the U.K. service, a number of Directioners took offense at his gesture and started calling him out for allegedly staging crocodile tears at the solemn event.
“Simon Cowell has got some front, I’ll give him that,” one 1D fan commented on the Daily Mail’s report about the TV judge’s appearance at the funeral. Another wrote, “Simon Cowell. If any guy needs a good kick in the sugar bowl, it’s precious Simon. What a faker.”
Someone else opined, “Heartbroken Simon Cowell? The only heartbroken thing he’s thinking about is losing out on all the money. I bet there’s a greatest hits album for Christmas,” while another person decried, “The same Simon who chews young pop stars up and spits them out when he’s done with them?”
Meanwhile, some level-headed fans encouraged those spreading hate against Simon to stop bullying him because there are many things about his relationship with the One Direction members and other aspects of their time together that still remain hidden from the public.
Even before the funeral, the music mogul already drew the ire of many Directioners after he posted a tribute to the late singer on Instagram days after the latter was announced dead on Oct. 16. Liam died at age 31 after falling off a balcony on the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
In his tribute, Simon wrote: “Liam, I am truly devastated. Heartbroken. And I feel empty. And I want you to know how much love and respect I have for you. Every tear I have shed is a memory of you.”
Since Simon switched off the comments section of his post, many fans shared their reactions elsewhere. Over on X, several fans lambasted the TV personality for allegedly not taking care of the members’ mental health while they were still under his care. A number even dubbed him an “abusive monster” for the struggles Payne and his fellow members suffered at his hands.
One fan who is also a “music industry article writer” summarized all the issues the fandom had with Simon in the aftermath of Payne’s untimely demise. According to her, Simon “doesn’t regret anything” he has done to the boys, not the “abusive contracts,” “anxiety,” “eating disorder,” and “alcohol addiction” that resulted from him overworking them for his financial gain.
Many fans have been mad at Simon since the band’s breakup in 2016 and how badly he handled the situation after Zayn’s departure the year before. However, their wrath reached a whole new level five months ago when the producer went on The Diary of A CEO podcast and shared that he advised them never to complain about the negative aspects of their celebrity life.