Billie Lourd remembered her late mother Carrie Fisher Monday – which would have been the star’s 68th birthday – almost eight years after the death of the Star Wars actress at 60 in late 2016.
The 32-year-old actress acknowledged her mother’s longtime battle with drug addiction in an extended statement on Instagram, accompanied by a photo from a past birthday celebration for Fisher.
‘My mom died when she was 60. 60 is too damn young to die,’ the Los Angeles native, who has been seen on Scream Queens and American Horror Story. ‘I did everything in my power to help my mom get sober but sadly my mom couldn’t ever escape her addiction.’
Fisher, who played Princess Leia in the George Lucas anthology, died December 27, 2016 at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, four days after she had a heart attack on a flight from London to Los Angeles.
Medical examiners subsequently found cocaine, ecstasy and heroin in Fisher’s system at the time she had passed.
Billie Lourd, 31, took to honor her late mother Carrie Fisher Wednesday, on the seventh anniversary of the death of the Star Wars actress
Lourd acknowledged her mother’s longtime battle with drug addiction in an extended statement on Instagram, accompanied by a photo from a past birthday celebration for Fisher
Compounding the Hollywood tragedy, Fisher’s mother and Billie’s grandmother, Singin’ in the Rain star Debbie Reynolds, died at 84 after a stroke December 28, 2016 as she was planning Fisher’s memorial.
Lourd has welcomed two children in the years since her mother’s death, as she’s mom to son Kingston, three, and daughter Jackson Joanne, one, with husband Austen Rydell, 32.
Lourd opened her post in acknowledging the subdued nature in celebrating the birthday of a late loved one.
‘My mom would’ve been 68 today,’ she said. ‘Dead person birthdays are weird to say the least.
‘On my mom’s birthday every year, I try to celebrate her as much as possible, but today I really wanted to celebrate her with her.’
Lourd – who shared an image of her mother’s gravesite on her Instagram Stories Monday – said that she has processed her emotions differently on milestone days in the years since Fisher’s death.
‘Some years my grief makes me feel the warmth of her love, some years it makes me angry, some years I feel numb but today when I woke up I just felt sad,’ she said. ‘I didn’t want to celebrate, I just wanted my mom.
‘My sadness bodysnatched me so I googled “average death age woman” (ooohhh what a fun google billie!!! I promise the rest of my google search history has a sliightly more fun vibe?!) and google said it was 80.2.’
Lourd on Sunday posted a shot from a Joni Mitchell show at LA’s Hollywood Bowl
Lourd shared an image of her mother’s gravesite on her Instagram Stories Monday
Fisher and Lourd were pictured at an event in London in June of 2016
Lourd said she ‘then googled drug overdose deaths (another fun morning google!!!) and it is over 100 thousand people per year.’
Lourd, whose father is CAA CEO Bryan Lourd, 63, credited her late mother for her candor in publicly speaking about her efforts to get sober throughout her life.
‘While she was alive she always shared the ups and downs of that struggle with others in hopes it would help them escape their own addiction,’ Lourd said. ‘As an addict, being open about the struggle is the only way through.’
Lourd wrapped up in expressing her empathy for others impacted ‘by that struggle,’ saying, ‘Sending my love to anyone out there who has lost someone to drug addiction. You are not alone.’
Lourd on Sunday posted a shot of herself attending a Joni Mitchell show at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl, noting that her late mother was partial to the Big Yellow Taxi singer-songwriter.
She captioned the shot, ‘Pre Momby’s birthday celebration with her all time favorite Joni Mitchell.’
Lourd honored her late mother last year when she attended a Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony on May 4 (Star Wars Day) as Fisher was posthumously awarded a star.
She said in a speech, ‘Mama, you’ve made it. My mom died six-and-a-half years ago, and ever since, I’ve fallen deeply in love with Leia and the entire Star Wars universe. I buy every single piece of Leia merch I Leia my eyes on.’
Fisher’s mother and Billie’s grandmother, Singin’ in the Rain star Debbie Reynolds, died at 84 after a stroke December 28, 2016 as she was planning Fisher’s memorial. Pictured in January of 2015 in LA
Lourd honored her late mother last year when she attended a Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony on May 4 (Star Wars Day) as Fisher was posthumously awarded a star
In December of 2022, Lourd took to social media speaking on her sadness that her mother never was able to meet her spouse and their two children.
‘My mom is not here to meet either of them and isn’t here to experience any of the magic,’ she said. ‘Sometimes the magical moments can also be the hardest.
‘That’s the thing about grief. I wish my Momby were here, but she isn’t.
She continued, ‘So all I can do is hold onto the magic harder, hug my kids a little tighter. Tell them a story about her. Share her favorite things with them. Tell them how much she would have loved them.’
