Boy George has admitted he regrets the comments he made about Liam Payne before he died.
The singer was speaking on the High Performance podcast when he reflected on a comment he'd made on social media about Liam a few days before he died.
"I'd actually put a message under a post saying, 'He's off his nut,' which wasn't very nice, but I felt it," the 63-year-old said.
"I felt like he was out of control."
Liam died on 16 October after falling from a third-floor hotel balcony in Buenos Aires. He was 31.
Boy George recalled learning of the former One Direction star's death.
"You know, I was up at 5 am and it came up on the American news and I literally was like 'What the f**k,'" he said. "I was literally like 'No this isn't real.' I couldn't take it in and I think everybody felt like that."
He added, "When (his death) happened, it just hit me. Same way that Amy Winehouse hit me just because it felt so senseless."
He told how he was "appalled" about comments where people had said he only cared because Payne "was good-looking."
"I watched the dad (Geoff Payne), and it was heartbreaking," he said. "I was quite tearful about it. I really very felt sad."
Liam's funeral took place in the UK on Wednesday. It was attended by all his former One Direction bandmates, and his ex-girlfriend Cheryl Cole.
