Billie Lourd remembered her late mother, Carrie Fisher, on Monday – which would have been the star’s 68th birthday – almost eight years after the Star Wars actress died at age 60 in late 2016.
The 32-year-old actress acknowledged her mother’s long battle with drug addiction in a lengthy statement on Instagram, accompanied by a photo from a previous birthday celebration for Fisher.
‘My mother died when she was 60. 60 is too young to die,’ the Los Angeles native, who was seen in Scream Queens and American Horror Story. “I did everything in my power to help my mother get sober, but unfortunately my mother was never able to escape her addiction.”
Fisher, who played Princess Leia in the George Lucas anthology, died on December 27, 2016 at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, four days after suffering a heart attack on a flight from London to Los Angeles.
Medical examiners later found cocaine, ecstasy and heroin in Fisher’s system at the time she passed away.
Billie Lourd, 31, honored her late mother Carrie Fisher on Wednesday on the seventh anniversary of the Star Wars actress’ death
Lourd acknowledged her mother’s long battle with drug addiction in a lengthy Instagram statement, accompanied by a photo from a previous birthday celebration for Fisher.
Compounding the Hollywood tragedy, Fisher’s mother and Billie’s grandmother, Singin’ in the Rain star Debbie Reynolds, died at age 84 after a stroke on December 28, 2016, while planning Fisher’s memorial.
Lourd has welcomed two children since her mother’s death, as she shares son Kingston, three, and daughter Jackson Joanne, one, with husband Austen Rydell, 32.
Lourd opened her post by acknowledging the subdued nature of celebrating a deceased loved one’s birthday.
“My mother would have been 68 today,” she said. ‘Dead people’s birthdays are strange, to say the least.
“Every year on my mom’s birthday I try to celebrate her as much as possible, but today I really wanted to celebrate it with her.”
Lourd — who shared an image of her mother’s grave to her Instagram Stories on Monday — said she has processed her emotions differently on milestone days in the years since Fisher’s death.
“Some years my pain 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 felt sad,” she said. ‘I didn’t want to celebrate, I just wanted my mother.
“My sadness grabbed me so I Googled ‘woman with average age of death’ (ooohhh what fun google billie!!! I promise the rest of my Google search history has a slightly more fun vibe?!) and Google said it was 80.2.’
Lourd posted a photo on Sunday from a Joni Mitchell concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles
Lourd shared an image of her mother’s grave to her Instagram Stories on Monday
Fisher and Lourd were photographed at an event in London in June 2016
Lourd said she ‘then Googled drug overdose deaths (another fun morning on Google!!!) and it’s over 100,000 people a year.’
Lourd, whose father is CAA CEO Bryan Lourd, 63, credited her late mother for her openness in speaking publicly about her efforts to stay sober throughout her life.
“While she was alive, she always shared the ups and downs of this struggle with others in hopes that it would help them escape their own addiction,” Lourd said. “As an addict, being open about the struggle is the only way to overcome it.”
Lourd ended by expressing her empathy for others affected “by this struggle,” saying, “Sending my love to anyone who has lost someone to drug addiction.” You are not alone.
Lourd on Sunday posted a photo of herself attending a Joni Mitchell concert at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl, noting that her late mother liked singer-songwriter Big Yellow Taxi.
She captioned the photo: ‘Pre Momby’s birthday celebration with her all-time favorite Joni Mitchell.’
Lourd honored her late mother last year when she attended the Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony on May 4 (Star Wars Day), where Fisher was posthumously awarded a star.
She said in a speech: ‘Mommy, you did it. My mother died six and a half years ago, and since then, I have fallen deeply in love with Leia and the entire Star Wars universe. I buy every piece of Leia merchandise I have my eye on.
Fisher’s mother and Billie’s grandmother, Singin’ in the Rain star Debbie Reynolds, died at age 84 after a stroke on December 28, 2016, while planning Fisher’s memorial. Photographed in January 2015 in Los Angeles
Lourd honored her late mother last year when she attended the Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony on May 4 (Star Wars Day), where Fisher was posthumously awarded a star
In December 2022, Lourd took to social media talking about her sadness that her mother never got to meet her husband and two children.
“My mother is not here to meet any of them and she is not here to experience the magic,” she said. ‘Sometimes the magical moments can also be the most difficult.
‘That’s the thing about grief. I wish my mother was here, but she isn’t.
She continued, “So all I can do is hold onto the magic a little tighter, hug my kids a little tighter. Tell them a story about her. Share your favorite things with them. Tell them how much she would have loved them.
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