I have been outside and aggressively mowed half an acre of lawn and thought and now I have things to say. I'm very sad that I have been horribly expecting this for some time. From the things I've seen over the last few years, as opposed to the things people say have happened, Liam was not blameless in how he was perceived, but as someone with life experience with alcoholics, drug addicts and mental health issues, these things are a disease and conscious decision-making gets blurry. Not an excuse, but a consideration. Regardless of what may or may not have happened at any time in the past, Liam did not deserve the relentless bullying by people who knew him and strangers alike. If there are any genuine grievances then there are ways to go about addressing them. Every single person who participated in the online cult of hating on Liam bears some responsibility in this outcome. Every member of the music industry who had a role in manipulating and controlling Liam FROM THE AGE OF 14 so that he developed such destructive coping mechanisms has a special place in hell and I can only hope karma is sharpening her knives. What comes next will be hard. Everyone who's ever been within 100m of Liam will have something to say. Others will also. Everyone will come out of the woodwork. Some of what gets said may be true but much will be said just for attention. Liam's family and friends will suffer at the hands of the media, the public, the haters and their own grief. We will see this and it will be hard. Simon and other 'notables' will no doubt mouth off about how they tried to help, what a sad loss of talent blah blah. This will suck big time and I for one will be thinking violent thoughts. The boys will all be thrown back into the limelight one way or another. Zayn may cancel all or part of his tour. They will certainly all be devastated. Liam's death will possibly be pronounced a suicide. This will be triggering and I hope no-one makes their own desperate decisions around this. The fandom will be in disarray and it may be ugly for a while as people vent their anger, sadness and fear. We need to take time to process and be kind to each other.
