Actress Billie Lourd has issued a statement on why she excluded Carrie Fisher’s siblings from her posthumous Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony. While Lourd is notoriously private and only tends to give statements/interviews in relation to upcoming films, she felt the need to open up after being “publicly attacked by them” in the media. Fisher’s siblings Todd, Joely, and Tricia Leigh Fisher were not invited to the ceremony, which takes place on May the 4th, 2023.
“Days after my mom died, her brother and her sister chose to process their grief publicly and capitalize on my mother’s death, by doing multiple interviews and selling individual books for a lot of money, with my mom and my grandmother’s deaths as the subject,” the statement reads. “I found out they had done this through the press. They never consulted me or considered how this would affect our relationship.”
“Though I recognize they have every right to do whatever they choose,” Lourd acknowledges, “their actions were very hurtful to me at the most difficult time in my life. I chose to and still choose to deal with her loss in a much different way.”
Fisher, an iconic “Star Wars” actress and mental health advocate, passed away in Los Angeles, on December 27, 2016. The following day, her mother/Lourd’s grandmother, legendary performer Debbie Reynolds also passed away in Los Angeles. While this was a devastating loss for the entertainment industry, its impact on their family is unimaginable.
On June 5, 2018, Todd Fisher published the memoir “My Girls: A Lifetime with Carrie and Debbie.” In 2017 Joely Fisher also published a memoir titled, “Growing Up Fisher: Musings, Memories and Misadventures.” In responses to Lourd’s recent statement Todd defended his memoir. “I never capitalized on either Carrie or my mother Debbie’s deaths, and in no way meant to hurt Billie, and that is the truth. Billie’s father was well aware months in advance of my book, which, was a loving and truthful homage to the incredible lives, not deaths, of Carrie and mom and the 60 plus years I spent with them both.”
Earlier this week, TMZ reported Todd was not invited to see his sister receive a long overdue star on the Walk of Fame. “It’s heartbreaking and shocking to me that I was intentionally omitted from attending this important legacy event for my sister, Carrie,” he said.
Joely and Tricia Leigh Fisher released a joint statement posted to Joely’s Instagram confirming they were also not invited. “For some bizarre, misguided reason our niece has chosen not to include us in this epic moment in our sister’s career,” the post reads. “This is something Carrie would have definitely wanted her siblings to be present for. The fact that her only brother and two sisters were intentionally and deliberately excluded is deeply shocking.”
Lourd addressed both incidents in her own statement. “The press release Todd Fisher gave to TMZ and the posting Joely Fisher placed on Instagram, once again confirms that my instincts were right,” she wrote. “To be clear — there is no feud. We have no relationship. This was a conscious decision on my part to break a cycle with a way of life I want no part of for myself or my children.” Adding earlier that “The truth of my mom’s very complicated relationship with her family is only known by me and those who were actually close to her.”
Todd Fisher has since responded to Lourd’s comments. “We made every attempt to speak with Billie’s team regarding the invitation prior to making any public comments,” he said. “Keeping the focus on Carrie Fisher, let’s put our differences aside for the hour long ceremony and move on from there. I was told It was a no go and why would I want to heighten level of emotion for his niece, going further to say if I showed up, she would not.”
The ceremony will be livestreamed via the Walk of Fame’s website at 11:30am.
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