Are The Liam Payne Nude Photos Real? One Direction Singer Addresses Images, Gay Rumors

Several nude images purporting to show Liam Payne engaging in sexual activity with another male surfaced online over the weekend. Despite rumors that the X-rated images may have been linked to 4Chan's recent "Fappening" scandal, the One Direction singer has said the photos are fake.

“Wow as if people think that weird photo going around is actually me lol. Think I’d rather tweet a full frontal than have people look at that,” Payne said on Twitter Sunday. Some fans were relieved to learn the nude images were fake (see the NSFW pictures here), while others attacked the 21-year-old performer for alluding to a disapproval of homosexuality. Payne responded:

Payne, who is currently dating university student Sophia Smith, was last accused of being homophobic after expressing his support for the Robertson family of A&E’s reality series “Duck Dynasty” in January. One month after the show’s lead, Phil Robertson, shared several anti-gay comments with GQ magazine, Payne controversially tweeted his affinity for the religious family. “Huge love to you/your family respect for your business prosperities and the family values you still all behold. Big fan,” Payne wrote to Robertson’s son Willie. After some U.K. outlets labeled the singer as homophobic, the singer denied the claims on Twitter before threatening to quit the social media platform. “Oh my god can someone literally not be a fan if a show without being labeled?” he said. “Being a fan of someone’s show and the way they hold a family together doesn’t mean I am ok with all they say.”

Payne’s latest controversy comes just three months after a video of him smoking marijuana with his bandmates leaked on the Web. Following the video’s appearance, Payne released a public apology to his fans calling his actions “sideways.” “We are only in our 20's we all do stupid things at this age,” he wrote. “We all have a lot of growing up to do in an extreme circumstance I'm not making excuse but its fact we are gunna [sic] fall short somewhere. Hopefully we stand the test of time an get it right in the end I don't take this for granted and I’m extremely grateful to be here doing this. Thank you to everyone who has stuck with us through this just know that we love you guys for it and it means the world.”