Liam Payne’s tycoon pal Roger Nores slapped the late star’s father with a defamation lawsuit Thursday for suggesting he plied the singer with drugs and had “full responsibility” for him before he plunged to his death from a hotel balcony.
The 35-year-old billionaire — who is facing manslaughter charges — accused Geoff Payne of repeatedly lying and smearing his name since the former One Direction singer’s tragic demise in Buenos Aires last October, according to court papers obtained by TMZ.
Nores argued in the court filing that he was “dear friends” with Payne — but “never agreed to be and was never the caretaker of Liam.”
He also denied giving the star “any recreational drugs” or “controlled any prescribed medications” before his fatal fall.
Nores and four others were hit with manslaughter and drug-related charges last month after Argentine authorities accused them of knowing Payne was extremely intoxicated the night he died — but failed to intervene and keep him away from the balcony of his CasaSur hotel room back on Oct. 16.
Payne’s autopsy later determined the singer had a toxic mixture of drugs in his system, including crack and so-called “pink cocaine” — a mix of ketamine and other drugs.
The energy tycoon argued in his suit that Payne struggled for years with addiction, and claimed to have repeatedly warned the star’s dad that he couldn’t “support” the crooner in the way he needed in the months before his death.
Nores allegedly sent an email to the Payne’s father last August, saying he “could not further as a friend devote the same time to support Liam,” according to the filing.
He then allegedly spoke with Geoff Payne the next month and urged him to come to the star’s home in Wellington, Florida to take care of his son.
Nores alleged that Geoff had enlisted Payne’s bodyguard, Bledar Vata, to be a “paid caretaker” for the star, the court papers state.
When Payne fired his protection, “Geoff as self declared caretaker of Liam never provided for a temporary or new bodyguard caretaker,” the suit claimed.
Nores, who had been with Payne on a daily basis during his two-week stay in Buenos Aires, had initially been investigated on suspicion of abandoning his friend after it emerged he left the hotel just hours before the singer’s death.
“I never abandoned Liam, I went to his hotel three times that day and left 40 minutes before this happened,” Nores said in a statement late last year before the manslaughter charge was handed down.
“There were over 15 people at the hotel lobby chatting and joking with him when I left. I could have never imagined something like this would happen.
“I’ve given my statement to the prosecutor on Oct 17 as a witness and I haven’t spoken to any police officer or prosecutor since,” Nores added at the time.
The filing of the lawsuit comes after sources told The Post that Nores had been telling friends he’s being made a “scapegoat’’ by authorities desperate to nail someone over the tragedy.
“He says he’s being railroaded,” a friend said, adding: “He thinks that Argentina is making an example out of him to save face. He says he’s a scapegoat.”
“He says that they’re mad about the bad press,” the friend continued. “And in order to change that, they had to make a high-profile arrest, and it’s him.”
