A family row has threatened to overshadow Carrie Fisher’s posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The Princess Leia actor, who died in 2016 aged 60, was honoured with the tribute on Thursday (May 4) to coincide with Star Wars Day. Prior to the ceremony however, Fisher’s siblings criticised the late actor’s daughter Billie Lourd for not inviting them.
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The dispute began following a TMZ report on Tuesday (May 2), where Carrie’s brother Todd Fisher told the outlet: “It’s heartbreaking and shocking to me that I was intentionally omitted from attending this important legacy event for my sister, Carrie.”
Her half-sister Joely Fisher, on behalf of herself and sister Tricia Leigh Fisher, later posted on Instagram about being omitted from the ceremony. “Strangely, we won’t be in attendance to celebrate our sister, whom we adored,” the caption read.
“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.”
They added: “This isn’t about a photo op on Hollywood Blvd… this is about celebrating the permanency of Carrie’s legacy in this industry, taking her place with a star on the iconic walk of fame alongside our parents.”
In response, Lourd released a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, where she apologised “for feeling the need to defend myself publicly” from her family members.
“Unfortunately, because they publicly attacked me, I have to publicly respond,” Lourd said. “The truth is I did not invite them to this ceremony. They know why.
“Days after my mom died, her brother and her sister chose to process their grief publicly and capitalise 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. I found out they had done this through the press. They never consulted me or considered how this would affect our relationship.
“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. Though I recognise they have every right to do whatever they choose, 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 added: “The press release Todd Fisher gave to TMZ and the posting Joely Fisher placed on Instagram, once again confirms that my instincts were right. 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.”
Following her death, Star Wars co-star Mark Hamill and William Shatner called for Fisher to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.