Liam Payne dropped by his record label Universal Music just days before his death: report

Liam Payne was reportedly dropped by his record label, Universal Music, just days before his shocking death.

A source told the Daily Mail Thursday that Universal Music axed the former One Direction star from their roster as his solo career was floundering.

“Liam’s advance was massive and he didn’t recoup [it],” the insider claimed. “Out of all of the One Direction boys, Liam was on the wrong path musically.”

Payne’s sophomore album was reportedly put on hold before the record label cut ties.

The “Strip That Down” singer signed with Capitol Records, which is owned by Universal Music, in 2016 after One Direction announced their indefinite hiatus in 2015.

Furthermore, the Daily Mail reported Payne’s publicity team resigned earlier in October.

Page Six reached out to Universal Music and reps for the musician for comment.

Universal Music posted a tribute to Payne on Thursday, writing that they are “devastated” by his sudden passing.

“His legacy will live on through his music and the countless fans he inspired and who adored him,” the statement added. “We send our deepest condolences to Liam’s family and loved ones.”

Prior to his death, the pop star was also said to be feeling “extremely overwhelmed by all of the legal issues” with his ex-fiancée, Maya Henry, who reportedly sent him a cease-and-desist letter last week.

The news of the legal action came after the model claimed in a TikTok video that Payne had been frequently contacting her and her family after their breakup — despite him being in a new relationship.

Furthermore, on Monday’s episode of “The Internet Is Dead” podcast, Henry, 23, accused her ex-fiancé of using his poor mental health as a “manipulation tactic” to get her to speak to him.

“He would always message me ever since we broke up [saying], ‘Oh, I’m not well,’” she claimed. “He would always play with death and be like, ‘Well, I’m going to die. I’m not doing well.’”

Eerily enough, she wrote about a person falling off a balcony in her fiction novel, “Looking Forward,” which was released earlier this year and inspired by her real life.

Payne died from multiple traumas that resulted in internal and external bleeding after he fell off a third-story balcony at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Wednesday evening.

He was reportedly acting “erratically” and trashing his hotel room before he died.

Payne was allegedly causing such a scene that the hotel manager called emergency services shortly before his death as he feared for the singer’s life.

“We have a guest who is [allegedly] high and drunk; and when he is conscious, he is destroying his room and we need you to send someone, please,” the employee said on the phone.

“We need you to send someone urgently because I don’t know if his life is in danger.”