One Direction heart-throb Liam Payne has been forced to apologise after a photograph of him standing on the ledge of a high-rise building was posted on Twitter.

The singer is not the first celebrity who has been forced to apologise for their social media antics.

Here we take a look at 12 other celebs whose pictures have caused controversy on Twitter and Instagram.

Helen Flanagan

The former Coronation Street actress caused a social media storm after she posted a picture of her posing with a gun hours after the Sandy Hook massacre in America.

Flanagan tweeted the picture on the same day that the first funerals were held for those killed in the Connecticut shooting.

She received a lot of criticism for the picture and removed it from her Twitter account shortly after posting it.

Justin Bieber

The Canadian singer caused a stir on Instagram after he posted pictures of a hotel wall he'd spray painted in Australia.

Bieber spray-painted cartoon faces on the wall of the Gold Coast Hotel during his Australian tour.

The hotel said it had given Bieber permission and was pleased to have the singer's artwork on its walls. However, the Gold Coast City Council has order the removal of the graffiti.

 

Lady Gaga

The American singer faced a backlash on Twitter after she posted an old photo of herself and a young Miley Cyrus with the caption 'Do not leave your children with Lady Gaga'.

Cyrus' fans, known as Smilers, were offended by the tweet, believing that Gaga was suggesting her behaviour and unusual ways had rubbed off on the former Hannah Montana star.

The smilers even created the hashtag #SmilersWantLadyGagaDead which began trending on Twitter after the picture was posted.

Danniella Westbrook

The former Eastenders actress caused a stir after posting a picture of herself crammed inside a tumble dryer on Twitter.

Westbrook wrote 'We have a game at work, between shows 2 pass the time! Taking random pictures! Here's me in costume! #PantoMadness". However, critics claimed the picture could set a bad example and cause copycat photos.

Snoop Dogg

The rapper caused controversy after snaps of him smoking marijuana with his son Corde Calvin Broadus were posted on Twitter.

Corde, who posted the pictures, is seen lighting his dad's bong in one photo and captioned another picture "Wouldn't mind living in Amsterdam fo a year".

Kim Kardashian

The reality TV star, who is dating Kanye West, was criticised after it was claimed that she had waxed her daughter's eyebrows for a photo on Instagram.

Speculation about six-month-old North West's beauty treatment began after several pictures were uploaded to Kardashian's Instagram account.

Madonna

No stranger to controversy, Madonna caused a stir after she posted a picture of her son Rocco holding a bottle of gin on Instagram.

The picture was captioned "The party has just begun! Bring it! 2014".

After receiving a backlash Madonna said that no one was drinking the gin and the photos were just a bit of fun.

Beyonce

The American singer was at the centre of a social media storm after she posed in from of Jesus in the Last Supper for an Instagram picture.

Beyonce posed in front of Andy Warhol's mural of The Last Supper at Miami's Jugofresh juice bar for the controversial pic. The photo appeared days after the singer came under fire for using audio from the 1986 Challenger explosion in her song XO.

Luisa Zissman

The Celebrity Big Brother and former Apprentice contestant created a stir on Twitter after posting a picture of her three-year-old daughter holding a glass of champagne.

The photo was captioned: "Cheers! Merry Xmas #posingwithmummyschampagne. However, the shot was slammed by some of Zissman's 127,000 followers.

Ashley Benson

The actress was heavily criticised after she posted a photo of her mocking troubled former child star Amanda Bynes on Instagram.

Benson copied one of Bynes' selfie looks, posing with one eye closed while pouting her lips, for the picture with the caption "Doing my Amanda Bynes look this afternoon".

Benson apologised after receiving an angry backlash. Bynes has recently been treated in hospital for 'severe mental illness'.

Brandy

The singer faced criticism after she posted some 'negative' pictures that she'd taken in Nigeria.

She tagged the photos as #depth and #beauty but was criticised for posting the photos, which it was claimed showed Africa in a negative light.

Rihanna

The singer became the focus of social media controversy when she posted a picture of what looked like marijuana on Twitter.

Rihanna posted the picture to her 27 million followers with the caption "This nug look like a skull or am i just...?"