Carrie Fisher’s daughter, actress Billie Lourd, has issued a rare public statement explaining why her mother’s siblings were not invited to a May the 4th ceremony honoring the late “Star Wars” actress.
Lourd, 30, said she did not want Fisher’s siblings − Todd, Joely and Tricia Leigh Fisher − at the Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony Thursday where Fisher will have her star unveiled.
“The truth is I did not invite them to this ceremony. They know why,” Lourd said in a statement sent to USA TODAY and noted she was forced to speak out “because they publicly attacked me, I have to publicly respond.”
“To be clear − there is no feud. We have no relationship,” Lourd added. “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.”
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Lourd, who has two kids, a son and a daughter, said she strongly disapproved of how her extended family responded when Fisher died in December 2016, saying they attempted to “capitalize on my mother’s death” with book deals and interviews.
“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,” Lourd wrote.
Recent statements to the media by her family “confirms that my instincts were right,” she concluded.
Todd Fisher, 65, told TMZ on Tuesday that it was “heartbreaking and shocking to me that I was intentionally omitted from attending this important legacy event for my sister.” Joely Fisher, 55, and Tricia Leigh Fisher, 54, posted a statement on Instagram stating that “for some bizarre, misguided reason our niece has chosen not to include us in this epic moment in our sister’s career. 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 said that “the people who knew and loved my mom at Disney and Lucasfilm” made the Hollywood Walk of Fame star possible “to honor her legacy.”
“This moment is about Carrie Fisher and all that she accomplished and what she meant to the world. I’m going to focus on that,” the “Scream Queens” actress added. “May the 4th be with you.”
Todd Fisher responded to Lourd’s statement with a statement of his own, released through his representative. Fisher said he “never capitalized” on his sister’s death “and in no way meant to hurt Billie.”
“I’ve finally learned where she stands after 7 years,” Fisher said in the statement. “But could we not stand together for a moment, set aside our differences, and celebrate Carrie Fisher’s legacy in the way she deserves and the way she would have wanted?”
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