The late Carrie Fisher will be posthumously immortalized with her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, with the ceremony appropriately set to take place on Thursday, May 4th a.k.a. “Star Wars” Day.
Ahead of the ceremony, however, Fisher’s siblings have been publicly griping that they haven’t been invited to attend.
“It’s heartbreaking and shocking to me that I was intentionally omitted from attending this important legacy event for my sister, Carrie,” Fisher’s brother, Todd Fisher, told TMZ on Tuesday.
READ MORE: Billie Lourd Remembers Mom Carrie Fisher 6 Years After Her Death
The following say, Fisher’s sisters, Joely and Tricia Leigh Fisher, made the same complaint in a joint statement they issued via Instagram.
“For some bizarre, misguided reason our niece has chosen not to include us in this epic moment in our sister’s career,” the statement 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.”
In response, the late “Star Wars” star’s daughter, Billie Lourd, issued a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, confirming they were not invited — by her deliberate choice.
“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,” Lourd stated.
READ MORE: Billie Lourd Shares Powerful Message On Grief In Birthday Tribute To Late Mom Carrie Fisher
“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,” she continued.
“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,” Lourd added.
“The people who knew and loved my mom at Disney and Lucasfilm have made this star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to honour her legacy possible,” she concluded. “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.”
Following the release of Lourd’s statement, her uncle issued a statement to deny her claims.
“We made every attempt to speak with Billie’s team regarding the invitation prior to making any public comments,” Todd Fisher told TheWrap. “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.”
READ MORE: Billie Lourd Honours Late Mom Carrie Fisher By Dressing Infant Son As Princess Leia
He also insisted that he had “never capitalized on either Carrie or my mother Debbie [Reynolds]’s deaths, and in no way meant to hurt Billie… and that is the truth.”
He concluded by saying, “As she has finally communicated these deep seeded [sic] feelings publicly and wants no relationship with me, my response is that I’ve finally learned where she stands after 7 years…..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?”
Carried Fisher’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony takes place on Thursday, May 4 at 8:30 a.m ET/11:30 p.m. PT, and will be livestreamed at walkoffame.com.
