Billie Lourd Explains Why She Didn’t Invite Her Aunts And Uncle To Carrie Fisher’s Hollywood Walk Of Fame Ceremony After They Publicly Called Her Out
Today is May The 4th Be With You, and it’s also the day when the late Carrie Fisher will be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. So it’s supposed to be a day of bittersweet nerd tears and joy over honoring Princess Leia, but a dark, stinky cloud of family drama has swept in. Carrie’s siblings, Todd, Joely, and Tricia Leigh Fisher were not invited to the ceremony and publicly said that their niece and Carrie’s only child Billie Lourd is the reason why they won’t be there today. Billie has hit back with a statement and confirmed she didn’t invite them. Billie also denied that she’s feuding with her aunts and uncle since they “have no relationship.” Well, DAMN.
Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremonies are open to the public, but there is a private area for family and guests of the honoree. Todd, Joely, and Tricia obviously weren’t invited to sit in that area. Todd and Carrie had the same mother and father, Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher. Joely and Tricia are the daughters of Connie Stevens and Eddie Fisher. Todd decided to take his complaints about not being invited to his sister’s Walk of Fame ceremony to TMZ earlier this week. Todd said that he stayed very close to Carrie until her death in 2016 (their mother, Debbie died just a day later) and that he’s actually the one who got things started for her to get a Walk of Fame star. When Todd found out that he didn’t make the guest list, he contacted the Walk of Fame people, who told him that Disney controlled the invites. And when he contacted Disney, they told him that it was up to Billie Lourd. Billie is the sole heir to her mother’s estate.
Right after Todd aired out his family’s dirty laundry to TMZ, he must have tapped his sisters Joely and Tricia Leigh on their shoulders like, “Tag, you’re it!” Because Joely Fisher (aka Paige from Ellen DeGeneres’ sitcom Ellen) and Tricia Leigh posted about this mess on Instagram. Joely and Tricia Leigh wrote that they’ve been respectful of Billie’s grieving process but that they really should be at their sister’s Walk of Fame ceremony, and it’s what Carrie would have wanted. Joely and Tricia Leigh also kept it classy by dropping hashtags like #familyvalues.
It’s times like these when I’m grateful that I didn’t come from a famous family because I don’t even want to think of the messy hashtags my aunties would use to call me out. #HandMeMyChancleta #ICleanedYourPoopyAssWhenYouWereABaby
One of the hashtags that Joely used, #growingupfisher, is the name of her book. Two years after Carrie’s death, Joely and Todd both released books, Growing Up Fisher (from Joely) and My Girls: A Lifetime with Carrie and Debbie (from Todd). Billie brought up those books in her response to her uncle and aunties calling her out. Billie wrote that she was very hurt by Todd and Joely doing interviews right after Carrie’s death and accused them of making money off of Carrie’s death with their books. Billie admitted that she didn’t invite Todd, Joely, and Tricia Leigh to her mother’s Walk of Fame ceremony because they don’t have a relationship. via Variety:
I have seen the postings and press release issued by my mother’s brother and sister. I apologize to anyone reading this for feeling the need to defend myself publicly from these family members. But unfortunately, because they publicly attacked me, I have to publicly respond. 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 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. 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 recognize 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.
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.
The people who knew and loved my mom at Disney and Lucasfilm have made this star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to honor her legacy possible. 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. May the 4th be with you.
Of course, Todd hit back with a statement to TMZ and an EXCLUSIVE interview with Entertainment Tonight. Todd denied using his sister’s death to make money. Todd said that he did one interview with 20/20 and that his book is an homage to his mom and sister and barely touches on their deaths. Todd claimed he tried to work things out with Billie before going public. via TMZ:
Todd says he wanted to put family differences aside for the family ceremony and move on from there, but says … “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.”
Carrie’s brother says he didn’t attack Billie, and pushes back on the idea he knew why she didn’t want him there. He says it was hurtful to learn of the snub from a press release and not Billie, especially because he was the one who started the process to get Carrie her star.
[He] also had this to say about his niece … “To say that her mother’s very complicated relationship with her family is known only by her and those who are actually close to her, purposely negates my 60 plus years as Carrie’s only brother who lived those years by her side.”
Todd says the family should be able to set aside their differences for an hour to see Carrie get her star.
I was going to say that I hope Carrie’s beloved pooch Gary Fisher makes an appearance today, but then I remembered that Billie reportedly didn’t like that his current caretaker and Carrie’s former assistant, Corby McCoin, was taking him to events and turning Nepo Doggy Gary into the face of Carrie Fisher’s legacy. This was posted to Gary’s IG today:
So sadly, Gary Fisher won’t be at Carrie’s Walk of Fame today, unless… Todd, Joely, and Tricia Leigh bring him to the ceremony and hold him up to Billie while saying, “See, you’re making Gary Fisher sad.” But maybe Joely will be too busy writing her follow-up memoir, which really should be called #Hashtags From The Edge.
Pic: Jeffrey Mayer/JTMPhotos/Media Punch/INSTARimages.com