Chris Cornell’s daughter, Toni Cornell, is publicly criticizing TMZ and recalling her own trauma that she believes the site caused.
Cornell criticized TMZ following Liam Payne’s death for posting photos of his body after the One Direction member fell from a third-floor balcony on October 16, leading to his untimely death.
In a statement shared on his Instagram account, Cornell pointed out the new medium for the photos they shared in a scathing post. She noted that TMZ also published graphic images of her father’s death, which deeply affected her at just 12 years old.
“After seeing those photos, I couldn’t help but reflect on my own experience when graphic images of my father’s death were also published by TMZ,” Cornell said.
“When I was 12 years old, I accidentally came across those photos while scrolling through my iPad, it was indescribably traumatizing and something I still carry with me to this day. TMZ has yet to pick up the tab. It’s appropriate, seven years later, to remove those photos from the Internet and that’s what I believe should be done,” she added.
It’s worth noting that TMZ deleted the photos of Payne’s body after the backlash became too great.
“Even though Liam’s images have been taken down, it means nothing. They should never have been posted in the first place. It breaks my heart to think that one day, my 7-year-old son his age, Bear, may encounter.” them and suffered exactly the same as I did,” Cornell continued.
Posted by Toni Cornell Liam Payne. Instagram
Toni’s father, Chris, passed away in May 2017. The singer was found dead in his hotel room after a Soundgarden show at the Fox Theater.
She is not the first to criticize news organizations in the wake of Payne’s death. On October 28, Cheryl Cole, the mother of Payne’s son, shared a post to her Instagram criticizing media outlets for sensationalizing his death.
“Liam is not only a pop star and a celebrity, he is also a son, a brother, an uncle, a close friend and a father to our 7-year-old son. A son now has to face the reality of never seeing his father again,” Cole said.
“What worries me is that Bear will one day have access to the disgusting reports and media exploitation we have seen over the past two days. My heart is broken even more.” more when I can’t protect him from that in the future,” she added.
“I implore you to consider the intended use of some of these reports, beyond causing further harm to those left to pick up the pieces. Before leaving a comment or creating a video, ask yourself Let’s see if you want to have children or a family of your own.” read them. Please give Liam some dignity that he left behind in death to finally rest in peace,” Cole concluded.
Payne was just 31 years old when he died. Since his death, his toxicology report has come out and revealed that Payne was high on drugs when he fell from the balcony of the hotel where he was staying.
Tags Chris Cornell, Liam Payne, Soundgarden