Todd Fisher categorically denies his nephew Billie Lourd’s allegations that he was trying to “remove” the death of his late sister, Carrie Fisher.
“I never took advantage of either Carrie or my mother, Debbie. [Reynolds’] The 65-year-old director persists in his statement to Page Six.
Lourd, 30, criticized Todd, 65, and his aunts Joely Fisher and Tricia Leigh Fisher for how they were handling in the wake of his mother’s death in December 2016 on Wednesday.
“Days after my mother died, her brother and sister chose to profess their grief and capitalize on my mother’s death by conducting multiple interviews and selling individual books for great money, with the subject being the deaths of my mother and grandmother. The “Booksmart” star told Variety.
Lourd also accused her aunts and uncles of “not consulting” or “not considering how this would affect our relationship” before speaking publicly about Carrie’s death, stating that she chose to deal with the loss of her mother “in a very different way”.
But Todd, who released “My Girls: A Lifetime with Carrie and Debbie” in 2018, now claims he “knew” of Lourd’s father Bryan Lourd’s book “months ago”.
The cinematographer tells Page Six that the biography is “a loving and true homage to the incredible lives (not the deaths) of Carrie and Mom, and the more than 60 years I’ve spent with both.”
“I wasn’t aware of the necessary clearances from Billie, who arrived 40 years later,” he adds.
Billie also confirmed on Wednesday that as a result of her aunts and uncle’s actions, she chose not to invite them to her mother’s Hollywood Walk of Fame on Thursday.
His statement was in response to Todd’s speech to TMZ about the exclusion, and when Joely, 55, and Tricia Leigh, 54, posted a joint statement on Instagram about the negligence.
The Fisher brothers partly on social media, “This is something Carrie would definitely want her siblings to be around. It is deeply shocking that her only brother and two sisters were deliberately excluded.”
Todd explains to Page Six that he made “every attempt” to speak to his nephew’s team before the matter went public.
“I was told it was a ‘no’ and why would I want to raise it? [the] emotion level for [my] nephew?” he asks.
The producer further states that “hearing news about the incident through a press article and from family friends was disturbing and hurtful, especially since I was the one who initiated the Walk of Fame nomination for my sister a few years ago.”
Billie had previously apologized for making a public statement and said she felt the “need to publicly defend myself from these family members”.
The “Scream Queens” graduate said she had to respond because she felt “overtly attacked” and that her aunts and uncles “know why” they were ultimately not invited.
“It’s not true that Billie said she was publicly attacked by me; “I expressed my hurt and disappointment at not being invited,” Todd replied.
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“We were NOT invited and ‘we know why!’ I had no idea what their reasons were.
The disgruntled uncle also denies Billie’s claims that he had a “complicated” relationship with Carrie, saying, “It deliberately invalidates my more than 60 years as Carrie’s only brother living in those years.”
“Before I make this inference as if he knew something on his own, I want him to remember that I have all of our family’s archives, letters, and personal communications for over 70 years,” he adds.
What appears to be a final plea for the “Star Wars” actress to attend the Walk of Fame, she concludes by saying, “Can’t we just stand together for a moment and put our differences aside and celebrate Carrie Fisher’s legacy the way she deserves to be? and the way she’d like it?
Billie’s rep did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
Carrie died at the age of 60 after suffering a heart attack and falling into a coma. His mother, “Singin’ in the Rain” star Reynolds, died the next day at the age of 84.