Father of One Direction Star Payne Arrives in Argentina

Tributes to Liam Payne, a former One Direction band member, are seen at the Hard Rock Cafe in Piccadilly Circus, in London, Britain, October 18, 2024. (Reuters)
Tributes to Liam Payne, a former One Direction band member, are seen at the Hard Rock Cafe in Piccadilly Circus, in London, Britain, October 18, 2024. (Reuters)
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Father of One Direction Star Payne Arrives in Argentina

Tributes to Liam Payne, a former One Direction band member, are seen at the Hard Rock Cafe in Piccadilly Circus, in London, Britain, October 18, 2024. (Reuters)
Tributes to Liam Payne, a former One Direction band member, are seen at the Hard Rock Cafe in Piccadilly Circus, in London, Britain, October 18, 2024. (Reuters)

The father of One Direction pop singer Liam Payne, whose death in a fall from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires shocked the music world, arrived in Argentina on Friday, police sources told AFP.

Geoff Payne landed in Buenos Aires at 6:00 am, the source said.

The source did not say whether he would visit the morgue where the body of his son, the 31-year-old member of one of Britain's most successful pop groups of recent years, is being kept pending the results of toxicological tests.

Payne suffered "multiple traumas" and "internal and external hemorrhaging" after falling from the balcony of his room on the third floor of the Casa Sur hotel in central Buenos Aires on Wednesday night, an autopsy found.

The autopsy suggested he had not tried to stop his fall and was in a state of "semi or total unconsciousness" before his death.

The singer, who had spoken publicly about struggles with alcohol and coping with fame from an early age, was alone at the time and appeared to be "going through an episode of substance abuse," prosecutors said.

He was found dead after hotel staff called emergency services twice to report "a guest who is overwhelmed by drugs and alcohol, and destroying his room," according to leaked audio.

Tributes to the singer have been pouring in since Wednesday.

His former One Direction bandmates, Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik, said they were "completely devastated" by his death.

Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood, the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC also offered their condolences, as did British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Payne was in Argentina to attend a concert by Niall Horan.

Argentine media published photos which they said showed the interior of his hotel room, with white powder on a table next to a piece of aluminum foil and a lighter, and a television with a broken screen.

Fans have left a mound of letters, flowers and pictures of the singer at a makeshift shrine to him outside the hotel in Palermo district.

"I feel like it's a part of adolescence lost," said Lena Duek, 21.



Japan’s Toho Buys Ghibli Animation Distributor GKIDS to Further Overseas Growth

People take a picture of Godzilla's head at Shinjyuku Toho building at the Kabukicho district in Tokyo, July 30, 2016. (AP)
People take a picture of Godzilla's head at Shinjyuku Toho building at the Kabukicho district in Tokyo, July 30, 2016. (AP)
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Japan’s Toho Buys Ghibli Animation Distributor GKIDS to Further Overseas Growth

People take a picture of Godzilla's head at Shinjyuku Toho building at the Kabukicho district in Tokyo, July 30, 2016. (AP)
People take a picture of Godzilla's head at Shinjyuku Toho building at the Kabukicho district in Tokyo, July 30, 2016. (AP)

Toho Co, the Japanese creator of the "Godzilla" movie franchise, will acquire the US distributor of Studio Ghibli's famed animated films, it said on Wednesday, to help drive overseas expansion.

The acquisition comes amid a surge in global popularity for Japanese entertainment, and fits with Toho's multi-year growth strategy centered on animation and overseas markets.

New York-based GKIDS, which distributed Ghibli's Oscar-winning "The Boy and the Heron", will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Toho after the deal, whose terms were not disclosed in statements from both companies.

"We are truly thrilled to be joining forces with the esteemed and storied Toho," GKIDS, which has distributed 13 animated films nominated for Oscars, said in a statement, citing founder Eric Beckman and President Dave Jesteadt.

Toho's own "Godzilla Minus One", a hit in overseas markets, took home an Oscar for visual effects in March, while "Shogun", a historical epic filmed mostly in Japanese, won a record number of Emmy Awards last month for a single season of drama.

Japan set up a committee last month to promote its entertainment industry, which was worth 12.9 trillion yen ($86.43 billion) in 2021, ranking third globally after the United States and China, the cabinet office said.

GKIDS manages the film catalogue of Ghibli, the studio of renowned Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki, in North America.

In March, it inked a deal with Warner Bros. Discovery to extend the US streaming rights to Ghibli films.