I was at lowest ebb after losing Liam… One Direction fans sent me death threats – I don’t blame them, says Kate Cassidy

LIAM Payne’s heartbroken girlfriend has revealed she got death threats and gold-digger jibes — but the tragic star’s positivity got her through the ordeal.

Kate Cassidy, 25, deleted her social media as trolls turned on her — including making cruel comments about what she wore at his funeral.

14

14

14

But she said Liam’s experience in the showbiz world helped her to shrug off the abuse.

She told The Sun: “One hate comment is equivalent to a hundred nice comments so it’s hard but I understand that.

“Liam would want me to be as strong as I can be, and just have a thick skin. That’s one thing he always taught me. He grew up in this life, and he always was just so positive about it and said, ‘Don’t let any hate get to you’.”

US influencer Kate is keen to praise the majority of kind One Direction fans who “have given me so much support and love”.

But she has also seen first-hand the harmful side of super-fandom.

She said: “I understand that some of the more negative comments come from a place of loving Liam, and concern, and caring for Liam.

“So I understand that because I love Liam too. But for sure it’s hard because obviously any criticism will get to you.

“Yeah I have some (death threats). And some of my DMs are, well, I can’t even put it into words exactly.

“That’s why I had to delete social media for a bit, and still sometimes I’ll take a break from it.

College graduate Kate was 23 and temping in a bar when she met Liam, the love of her life and worth a reported £46million.

Following his death, a report came out in the States claiming she was given a “living allowance” and expenses totalling around £20,000-a-month.

The couple shared his multi-million rented mansion in Florida, which Kate has since moved from.

Today she is temporarily living back at home with family in New Jersey with family while she navigates this horrific experience.

It has not been confirmed whether Liam had made a will and during our interview I am not allowed to ask about one.

But understandably Kate is stung by the idea she was only after Liam for his money and fame.

Over a cup of coffee, left untouched, at studios in East London she says: “Obviously after his death there was a lot of speculation, and things that were said about me, and I was getting called certain labels.

“Liam and I had a relationship where I couldn’t possibly work a nine to five job with his work and his lifestyle and I moved across the world to be with him.

“He showed me our relationship was so special because we balanced each other out so much.

And I know that our relationship was so authentic and real. It’s something literally you would see out of a movie. I’ll never let anybody tell me otherwise

Kate

“So you know when people come and point a finger at me saying ‘you took an allowance and you had living expenses’ or whatever, at the end of the day it’s nobody’s business except for me and Liam.

“I never (asked him for money). Yeah, it’s upsetting but it’s just about having thick skin and I’m never going to let anybody tell me how my relationship was with Liam. The only two people that really know how strong a relationship was are me and Liam.

“And I know that our relationship was so authentic and real.

“It’s something literally you would see out of a movie. I’ll never let anybody tell me otherwise.”

14

14

14

As one-fifth of the world’s biggest boyband in modern history, with it came the level of fandom not seen since The Beatles.

Wolverhampton-born Liam inspired a cult-like devotion from Directioners and still trends on social media.

His accounts on TikTok, Snapchat, X and Instagram have more than 70 million followers.

Fans held vigils for the star, and set up support groups to cope with his death.

The funeral at St Mary’s Church in Amersham, Bucks, on November 20 made global news and was attended by friends, family, industry colleagues — and, poignantly, all four of his 1D bandmates: Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik.

Kate was supported at the church by her pal, Damian Hurley, son of model Elizabeth, and wore a long black dress.

Yet some fans criticised her, suggesting she was wearing too much make up.

Comments included: “Eww to Kate Cassidy’s and Damian Hurley’s looks. It’s a funeral and not a fashion show! Call me old-fashioned if you want. But thank God Liam’s actual friends and family who attended had the decency to dress classy and appropriate and not make it about them.”

Nobody needs to look all streaky and like Gene Simmons at a funeral

A cruel fan

Others chimed in: “She’s had her lips done for the funeral!”, “All she wants is attention.”

Some wrote: “There’s an awful lot of makeup going on.”

And “Nobody needs to look all streaky and like Gene Simmons at a funeral.”

Let’s not forget, this trolling came on what must have been one of the hardest days of Kate’s young life.

Defending herself to me, she said: “People are going to say things no matter what.

“I genuinely wanted to just look beautiful for my boyfriend one last time; that’s how he would want to see me, and that’s how I would want him to see me to remember me by.”

14

14

14

14

While she does not wish to detail what happened inside the church out of respect for Liam’s family, she says the service was “beautiful”.

She adds that everyone, including the One Direction boys, were “lovely” to her.

On the subject of “lovely”, yesterday, in the wake of The Sun’s front page interview — which was reported across the globe and widely discussed on daytime television — many fans came out in support of Kate.

She was trending on X/Twitter and racked up more than five million views on TikTok, with comments defending those questioning her decision to pay tribute to her boyfriend.

A Kate Cassidy defence league had also emerged by the afternoon, with fans hashtagging her name alongside the phrase Kate Cassidy Defender.

Comments included: “Man this is so sad, I can’t imagine losing my boyfriend in such a terrible and public way where deranged parasocial fans keep blaming me for his death . . . Kate Cassidy is so strong.”

Another wrote: “Kate Cassidy I am so sorry for the way this world treats you.”

A third said: “Kate Cassidy is really a stronger woman than I am because just reading this made me sob” and "Thank you so much for this. There is never a day that goes by when I don’t think or cry about Liam: the pain will never go away, something in me died that day forever.”

Others were less #bekind.

One wrote meanly: “So we were right all along, she’s a gold digger and a poor excuse of a woman.”

Incredibly a thread was also started questioning Kate’s “crocodile tears” when she, twice, wept during our interview.

One commentator said: “From what I’ve seen from body language experts, her tears seem more on the fake side simply due to the lack of tension in the forehead, raised brows, and lack of tears. I’m just saying.”

He (Liam) would want me to do what makes me happy and to be as strong as I can be like, no matter what people say

Kate

This sparked a frenzied and bizarre debate about whether Kate has had Botox and hence could not move her forehead or cry in a suitably sad enough manner.

This, of course, only goes to highlight the poor girl’s point about trolling — and the importance of being strong in the face of it.

As Kate told me: “I’m trying to be as strong as I can be.

“I feel really alone but I know Liam wouldn’t want me to.

“He would want me to do what makes me happy and to be as strong as I can be like, no matter what people say.

“He would tell me: ‘Please just take care of yourself, because I can’t take care of you anymore’.”

14

14

14

14