Irish music superstar Niall Horan has spoken out against the media in Britain in the wake of the suicide of his friend Caroline Flack.
Horan met Flack in 2010 when he auditioned for the X Factor and she was hosting the show’s additional footage programme, and the two remained friends.
Tragically, Flack was found dead at her home last week after taking her own life.
She was due to appear in court charged with assault on her boyfriend Lewis Burton after she allegedly attacked him with a lamp while he was sleeping.
Burton did not want the prosecution to go ahead but British law insists domestic abuse cases must be prosecuted even when it goes against the victim’s wishes.
The case resulted in Flack being suspended from her job as a presenter of the popular British dating show Love Island.
She then faced months of criticism in the media and by online trolls, before taking her own life.
Horan took to Twitter to speak out against the media and its treatment of his friend.
He tweeted: “Tabloids will never hold themselves accountable in any shape or form for any death. I feel very sad for those who write these terrible articles simply for clickbait and a wage at the end of the year.”
“That’s our actual friend, a person. Because she is talented and famous she automatically gets treated differently by society and in turn the tabloids and social media. The outcome is society’s fault.”
Flack’s tragic suicide has raised the issue of the intrusive and abusive reports that are published in some of the country’s media about celebrities.
There have been calls for stricter regulations as to what and where the media can broadcast and the hashtag #CarolinesLaw began trending on Twitter.
