Liam Payne’s ex Maya Henry ‘in shock’ over his death days after starting legal action and accusing him of ‘weaponising’ his fans

Maya Henry, the ex-fiancée of Liam Payne, is reportedly “in shock” over his sudden death at the age of 31.

One Direction star Liam fell to his death from the third floor balcony of his hotel room in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Wednesday (October 16).

Just days earlier, former fiancée Maya had reportedly started legal proceedings against the singer, accusing him of repeatedly contacting her. The pair split in 2022, and Liam was dating new girlfriend Kate Cassidy at the time of his tragic death.

Liam Payne and Maya Henry had a three-year on/off romance that ended in 2022 (Credit: Splash News)

Death of Liam Payne: Maya Henry ‘in shock’

Earlier today (October 17), it was claimed that Maya was “in shock” after hearing of Liam’s death.

A source close to Henry told DailyMail.com: “Right now she is obviously in shock.’”

However, days before his passing, Maya, 23, is said to have instructed lawyers to issue a cease and desist letter to the pop star after accusing him of repeatedly contacting her.

She also accused the singer of obsessively contacting her friends and family including her mother Azteca Henry.

Lawyers for the star are said to have told MailOnline: “Maya Henry issued a cease and desist last week to Payne following the emergence of new and concerning information. She has retained attorneys Marco Crawford and Daniel Cerna to represent her. At this time, that is her only comment on the matter.”

Maya is said to have recently issued a cease and desist letter to Liam (Credit: Splash News)

Maya’s brutal TikTok video about Liam Payne days before death

On October 6, in a video that is still visible on her TikTok timeline, Maya – who comes from a very wealthy Texan family – launched into brutal assessment of Liam. In it, she claimed he had gone to extraordinary lengths in an attempt to contact her.

“Ever since we broke up he messages me, will blow up my phone. Not only from his phone. It’s always from different phone numbers too, so I never know where it’s gonna come from,” she said.

“He’ll create new iCloud accounts to message me, it’s always a new iCloud account. Every time I see one pop on my phone I’m like: ‘Here we [bleep]ing go again.’ Also, will email me… and he does this when he ‘gets his phone taken away’. Also, not only me, but he’ll blow up my mom’s phone. Is this normal behavior to you?”

She then added: “And he’s also messaging my friends. Not only was he messaging them when we were together, so they could go over to his house apparently, but then was also messaging my best friend to come over to his house when his girlfriend was gone. Like, he’s the one that is constantly doing weird [bleep].”

Maya posted a scathing attack on the star in the days leading up to his death (Credit: Splash News)

‘You’ve weaponised your own fanbase’

She then went on to accuse the star of “weaponising his fanbase”.

“Also, might I add, he literally said oh the reason he has all these people on his SnapChat, that he messages or whatever, and on Instagram… He said he preys on One Direction fans because they will always be loyal to him and won’t tell on him.  So it’s like, okay, not only are you… also, you’ve weaponised your own fan base.

“People are saying, oh she just wants money, who’s paying her to do this. I don’t need money, what are you all not getting here? I never needed it, it’s just not even a topic of discussion. Also, oh she’s just with him for his money. I never needed his money, he never paid for anything for me. I literally paid for everything myself. It’s not like I was going shopping on his Amex. Calm down.

“But also the fans that ride for him so hard. Okay, support whoever you love, whatever. But when you constantly enable someone, they’re never going to realise what they’ve done is bad. Or they do realise but they know they can get away with it. Which is what has happened to him for so many damn years.”

‘The fans always have his back’

Maya then continued: “Everything gets swept under the rug, everything gets hidden for him. I don’t know who the hell is behind all this, but nothing ever comes out about him because… I understand people are scared, but also it’s hard when you have these people that jump down your throat for speaking the truth on things that have happened.

“And quite frankly very disgusting things that have happened, disgusting things that he’s done. He knows that too, that he can get away with anything. He’s told me: ‘Oh don’t you dare tell anyone as they’re not going to believe you anyway. The fans always have our back so we can do whatever the hell we want and they’re always going to defend us.’

“He’s right, he’s not even wrong, and he uses that. You’re defending someone you don’t even know. I lived in a house with him for years. I’m pretty sure I can speak on my own experiences.”

@mayahenryReplying to @marie♬ original sound – Maya Henry

Liam and Maya’s relationship history

Liam made his first public appearance with Maya in 2019. The couple then went on to have an on/off romance for three years.

Things came to an official end in 2022, almost a year since they called off their engagement. He proposed in 2020 with a £3m diamond ring.

Maya has recently published her debut novel, Looking Forward. It’s an art-imitating-life romance about a girl who has a toxic relationship with a pop star.

She recently opened up about the “fictional elements” to her book, but claimed it is based on true events from her own life.