Louis Tomilson<\/strong> felt the negative public perception of Liam Payne<\/strong> before his passing was not representative of who he was as a person.<\/p>\n The singer-songwriter, 33, gave an interview to Rolling Stone UK<\/a><\/em>, published Tuesday, October 7 \u2014 a little over a week before the one-year anniversary of Payne\u2019s passing<\/a> \u2014 and got candid about his late One Direction bandmate.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was just a very misunderstood person, I think, from a public perspective,\u201d Tomlinson told the outlet. \u201cIf there is ever any judgment on his character, I think nine times out of 10, you can reflect on that, and the reflection is that he was someone who just wanted to be liked.\u201d<\/p>\n As Rolling Stone<\/em> pointed out, Payne received a lot of criticism for comments he made about his One Direction bandmates on Logan Paul\u2019s<\/strong> Impaulsive<\/em> podcast in 2022.<\/p>\n \u201cAnyone who knew him [Liam] personally would know how deeply unfair that was,\u201d Tomilson added. \u201cAnything that he got wrong in life, Liam \u2014 which, by the way, we all do daily \u2013 it was never through malice. It was only through miscommunication \u2014 him just not being able to express himself in the way he needed to.\u201d<\/p>\n As for how the \u201cJust Hold On\u201d singer has coped with Payne\u2019s death, he admitted, \u201cIt was really, really, impossibly difficult for me to deal with losing Liam,\u201d and pointed out how \u201cit\u2019s very different\u201d losing a friend.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/staging.starmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/MEGA638978_043-scaled.jpg\")