Todd Fisher has denied his niece Billie Lourd’s allegations he tried to “capitalise” on the death of his late sister Carrie Fisher.
The 65-year-old director was slammed by ‘Scream Queens’ actress Billie, 30, who also hit out at her aunts Joely Fisher, 55, and Tricia Leigh Fisher, 54, on Wednesday (03.05.23) for how they handled the aftermath of her mother’s death in December 2016, and Todd has now spoken out to defend himself against her claims.
He told Page Six: “I never capitalised on either Carrie or my mother Debbie (Reynolds’) deaths, and in no way meant to hurt Billie... and that is the truth.”
Billie had said: “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.”
She also blasted her uncle and aunts for failing to consult with her or think about “how this would affect our relationship” before speaking publicly about Carrie’s death, saying she chose to deal with her mother’s loss “in a much different way.”
Todd – who released the book ‘My Girls: A Lifetime with Carrie and Debbie’ in 2018 – insists Billie’s dad Bryan Lourd was “well aware months in advance” of its release.
He added the autobiography was a “loving and truthful homage to the incredible lives (not deaths) of Carrie and Mom and the 60-plus years I spent with them both”.
Todd said: “I was not aware of the permissions needed from Billie, who came along 40 years later.”
Carrie died aged 60 after suffering a heart attack and going into a coma, and her ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ actress mum Debbie, who played Kathy Selden in the iconic 1952 classic, passed away the following day aged 84.
Billie confirmed Todd’s and her aunts’ actions was the reason she didn’t invite them to her late ‘Star Wars’ actress mum’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony on Thursday. (04.05.23)
Joely and Tricia stated on Instagram about not being invited: “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.”
