‘I’m a social chameleon!’: Liam Payne addresses THAT ‘bizarre’ accent in his post-Oscars interview as he says he had ‘a lot to drink’ on the night
Liam Payne has finally spoken out about his ‘bizarre’ Irish-American accent when he was interviewed about the infamous Will Smith slap after the Oscars.
The singer, 28, admitted he had ‘a lot to drink’ on the night of his now-famous interview with Good Morning Britain, where he defended his pal Will, 53, for slapping Chris Rock.
He described himself as a ‘social chameleon’ and called his accent is ‘ever-changing’ depending on who he is around, before insisting he is normally ‘good at accents’.
Defence: Liam Payne has finally spoken out about his ‘bizarre’ Irish-American accent when he was interviewed about the infamous Will Smith slap after the Oscars
Addressing his interview in an Instagram Live video on Monday night, Liam joked: ‘I’m good at accents, I pride myself on them! I just wish sometimes I could do my own.
‘No I mean, what can I say about that really? It was quite funny.’
The former One Direction star admitted that he had told the presenter not to ask him any difficult questions because he ‘had a lot to drink’, as his friends could be heard laughing in the background.
He explained: ‘I had asked Good Morning Britain, the presenter, I said, “Please don’t ask me too much because I’ve had a lot to drink and I’m under-ly educated about the Oscars”. I said “please don’t ask me too much”.
Bizarre: The singer, 28, said he had ‘a lot to drink’ on the night (above) of his now-famous interview with GMB, where he defended his pal Will, 53, for slapping Chris Rock
‘Now the very first question the man asked me was, “What do you think about Will Smith?”.
‘Now can you imagine, imagine being put on the spot in that moment and knowing, “I can’t say anything wrong because I’m gonna upset someone” and I just did the best I could.’
Liam went on to say he has listened back to his interview and said he ‘stands by’ his comments – which were slammed as ‘rambling – adding: ‘I’m just sorry it came out in so many accents! I’m not even sure if it’s an accent I can do.’
He then said people only need to watch back his X Factor audition for proof of his ‘ever-changing’, where he claims you couldn’t even tell he was from Birmingham.
‘I didn’t know the Birmingham accent was going to become really cool because of Peaky Blinders, but I don’t sound like I’m from Birmingham really [in the audition],’ he said.
‘But when my mum’s here, you bl**dy bet I do!’
Liam called himself a ‘social chameleon’ because his accent changes depending on who he is with, saying his bizarre twang emerged because he was staying with people who had different accents.
He added: ‘That day – I’ll tell you the truth – I was staying in a house with two German people, three people from Texas, one person from Liverpool and me.
‘It sounded like one of those jokes people say where an Irishman and an Englishman walk into a pub!’
The now-infamous interview saw Liam called out by fans for ‘putting on’ a ‘bizarre’ Irish-American twang after being interviewed live on the red carpet at the Elton John AIDS Foundation’s annual Academy Awards viewing party at West Hollywood Park.
Throwback: He said people only need to watch back his X Factor audition (pictured in 2010) for proof of his ‘ever-changing’ accent, where he claims you couldn’t tell he was from Birmingham
The exchange left viewers scratching their heads when he debuted a ‘valley’ twang – before admitting he hadn’t even been on US soil for two years.
In a video posted to Twitter only six days prior, to promote Unicef’s Soccer Aid, the Night Changes hitmaker spoke with a notably British accent.
During the Oscars, Will tearfully apologised as he won Best Actor after an ugly physical row with Chris over a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s haircut.
The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air star earned the honor for his work as father of Venus and Serena Williams in King Richard.
It came soon after the awkward altercation in which he appeared to strike the 57-year-old comedian with an open hand.
Controversy: The now-infamous interview saw Liam getting called out by fans for ‘putting on’ a ‘bizarre’ Irish-American accent while being interviewed after the Oscars
Weighing in on the controversy, Liam claimed how there had been ‘three losers in one fight’, adding: ‘He had the right to do what he did.’
He reminisced on his friendship with the two names on everyone’s lips, revealing that Will had been his neighbour and had known Chris since he was a teenager.
Liam said: ‘Will Smith actually used to live behind my house, I had the pleasure of knowing his son and daughter very well and we did Men In Black 3 with him.
‘I believe whatever he felt that he did, he had the right to do. I also felt there were three losers in one fight.
‘He didn’t know being Chris Rock, he didn’t wanna do what he had to being Will Smith, and she did nothing, being Jada.
Bizarre: In a video posted to Twitter only six days prior to promote Unicef’s Soccer Aid, the Night Changes hitmaker speaks with a notably British accent
‘It was a powerful moment for me to sit and watch one of the world’s best emoters we’ve ever seen speak from the heart and I would rather take the beauty out of the situation than take the pain.
‘But I had to leave my chair, I’ll be honest with you, it cut me really deep and I don’t get deep about these things but I’m a big movie fan.
‘Out of a horrible moment there was a little bit of beauty in what came on and I’m sure everyone’s apologetic about what happened, shouldn’t happen.
‘But ask yourself what would you do in the situation, I don’t know how we would react, we’re all human.
‘I can’t speak too hard on this because I met Chris when I was younger and it was a very illusional time, I was a teenager who had just seen him at Madison Square Garden, it’s very strange. And I sat with him and spoke for 20, 30 minutes and he was lovely.
‘I also know Will Smith and my manager worked with Will Smith from the ground upwards and he was my neighbour but, like I say, I don’t have a dog in this fight, there were three losers in this fight and what happened is very sad.
‘I hope everyone’s ok. I really reach out to you guys, I hope you’re ok. And I don’t wanna expand a situation that doesn’t need to expand any further.
‘I think we all know what happened. Let’s take the beauty out of it. We got the world’s best emoter ever speak from the heart.
Hilarious: Viewers at home rushed to their keyboards to share their surprise at Liam’s twang, writing, ‘OMG what is this accent? Sort it out Liam, cringe [laughing emoji]’
‘I’ve seen him in every situation in every movie he’s ever done. And when he cries, I cry and when I laugh, I laugh and it’s a beautiful moment and he spoke from the heart. So let’s just take the positive out of it.
‘I think we go and have a fantastic evening. I can’t believe I’m in LA again for the first time since Covid, I’m sorry to make you guys jealous from home but it’s fantastic to be out here and I feel a very fortunate boy.
‘I’m from Wolverhampton originally and I was brought up with very humble beginnings and I’m at the Oscars so anything can happen if you stick to it guys.’
Viewers at home rushed to their keyboards to share their surprise at Liam’s twang, writing, ‘OMG what is this accent? Sort it out Liam, cringe [laughing emoji].’
Tension: Will was the talking point of Sunday night’s 94th Academy Awards when he slapped presenter Chris for making a joke about his wife
‘What’s with the accent and what was he actually saying? Rambling word salad,’ another said.
A third commented: ‘The Accent Police are out in full force over this clip.’
While a fourth added: ‘Yeah Will Smith smacking Chris Rock is shocking, but what’s happened to Liam Payne’s accent?!’
And a fifth penned: ‘I’ve just watched it thinking what the hells with his accent [laughing emoji] not actually listening to what he was saying.’
‘Since when did Liam Payne have an American accent lol,’ another wrote.
Youth travel operator, Contiki, which travels to over 80 countries around the world, has trawled through Liam’s travel history to pinpoint the most likely sources of his surprising new dialect with the help of renowned Accent Coach, Luke Nicholson.
The formula factored in Liam’s UK roots in Wolverhampton, his residence in Los Angeles, and the most frequent destinations for One Direction.
They concluded the Strip That Down songster’s accent is a global mix of Wolverhampton, North America, Latin America – and surprisingly, a hint of Australia, which experts have dubbed as WALAA.
OSCARS 2022: WINNERS
BEST PICTURE
Belfast (Focus Features)
Coda (Apple) – WINNER
Don’t Look Up (Netflix)
Drive My Car (Janus Films/Sideshow)
Dune (Warner Bros)
King Richard (Warner Bros)
Licorice Pizza (MGM/United Artists Releasing)
Nightmare Alley (Searchlight Pictures)
The Power Of The Dog (Netflix)
West Side Story (20th Century Studios)
History: Coda became the first ever streaming film to win Best Picture as it upset The Power Of The Dog
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Jessie Buckley – The Lost Daughter
Ariana DeBose – West Side Story – WINNER
Judi Dench – Belfast
Kirsten Dunst- The Power Of The Dog
Aunjanue Ellis – King Richard
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Ciaran Hinds – Belfast
Troy Kotsur – Coda – WINNER
Jesse Plemons – The Power Of The Dog
J.K Simmons – Being The Ricardos
Kodi Smitt-McPhee – The Power Of The Dog
Amazing: Troy Kotsur became the first male actor to win an Oscar for Coda
COSTUME DESIGN
Cruella (Jenny Beavan) – WINNER
Cyrano (Massimo Cantini Parrini)
Dune (Jacqueline West)
Nightmare Alley (Luis Sequeira)
West Side Story (Paul Tazewell)
ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND
Belfast
Dune – WINNER
No Time To Die
The Power Of The Dog
West Side Story
ORIGINAL SCORE
Don’t Look Up (Nicholas Britell)
Dune (Hans Zimmer) – WINNER
Encanto (Germaine Franco)
Parallel Mothers (Alberto Iglesias)
The Power of the Dog (Jonny Greenwood)
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
CODA (Sian Heder) – WINNER
Drive My Car (Ryusuke Hamaguchi & Takamasa Oe)
Dune (Eric Roth, Jon Spaihts & Denis Villeneuve)
The Lost Daughter (Maggie Gyllenhaal)
The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion)
Shining moment: Sian Heder earned Best Adapted screenplay for the film as it went three for three on the night
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Belfast (Kenneth Branagh) – WINNER
Don’t Look Up (Adam McKay & David Sirota)
Licorice Pizza (Paul Thomas Anderson)
King Richard (Zach Baylin)
The Worst Person in the World (Joachim Trier & Eskil Vogt)
ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Affairs Of The Heart
Bestia
Box Ballet
Robin Robin
The Windshield Wiper – WINNER
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
Ala Kachuu — Take and Run
The Dress
The Long Goodbye – WINNER
On My Mind
Please Hold
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
Drive My Car – WINNER
Flee
The Hand of God
Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom
The Worst Person in the World
PRODUCTION DESIGN
Dune (Zsuzsanna Sipos & Patrice Vermette) – WINNER
Nightmare Alley (Tamara Deverell & Shane Vieau)
The Power of the Dog (Grant Major & Amber Richards)
The Tragedy of Macbeth (Stefan Dechant & Nancy Haigh)
West Side Story (Rena DeAngelo & Adam Stockhausen)
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Javier Bardem – Being the Ricardos
Benedict Cumberbatch – The Power of the Dog
Andrew Garfield – tick, tick… BOOM!
Will Smith – King Richard – WINNER
Denzel Washington – The Tragedy of Macbeth
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Jessica Chastain – The Eyes of Tammy Faye – WINNER
Olivia Colman – The Lost Daughter
Penélope Cruz – Parallel Mothers
Nicole Kidman – Being the Ricardos
Kristen Stewart – Spencer
All eyes on her: Jessica Chastain finally won her first Best Actress trophy for her titular role in The Eyes Of Tammy Faye
DIRECTING
Kenneth Branagh – Belfast
Paul Thomas Anderson – Licorice Pizza
Jane Campion – The Power of the Dog – WINNER
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi – Drive My Car
Steven Spielberg – West Side Story
FILM EDITING
Don’t Look Up (Hank Corwin)
Dune (Joe Walker) – WINNER
King Richard (Pamela Martin)
The Power of the Dog (Peter Sciberras)
Tick, Tick… Boom! (Myron Kerstein & Andrew Weisblum)
MAKEUP AND HAIR STYLING
Coming 2 America
Cruella
Dune
The Eyes Of Tammy Faye – WINNER
House Of Gucci
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Encanto – WINNER
Flee
Luca
The Mitchells VS The Machine
Raya And The Lost Dragon
ORIGINAL SONG
Be Alive — Beyoncé Knowles-Carter & Darius Scott (King Richard)
Dos Oruguitas — Lin-Manuel Miranda (Encanto)
Down to Joy — Van Morrison (Belfast)
No Time to Die — Billie Eilish & Finneas O’Connell (No Time to Die) – WINNER
Somehow You Do— Diane Warren (Four Good Days)
Not a bad guy: Billie Eilish and brother FINNEAS earned Best Original Song for No Time To Die from the James Bond film of the same name
DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Audible
Lead Me Home
The Queen of Basketball – WINNER
Three Songs for Benazir
When We Were Bullies
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Ascension
Attica
Flee
Summer of Soul (Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) – WINNER
Writing with Fire
VISUAL EFFECTS
Dune – WINNER
Free Guy
No Time To Die
Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Epic: Dune swept the technical awards as Greig Fraser is shown accepting the Best Cinematography gong
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Dune (Greig Fraser) – WINNER
Nightmare Alley (Dan Lausten)
The Power of the Dog (Ari Wegner)
The Tragedy of Macbeth (Bruno Delbonnel)
West Side Story (Janusz Kaminski)
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