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May the fourth be you! What better way to memorialize Princess Leia herself, the late Carrie Fisher, than with a Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony on May 4?
Fisher was honored with a star on the Walk of Fame on Thursday — right across the street from Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, where the original “Star Wars” erupted onto the screen and introduced the then 21-year-old to the world. Carrie, the daughter of Hollywood legend Debbie Reynolds, starred in more than five “Star Wars” films before she passed away in 2016 at the age of 60.
The late actress’s daughter, Billie Lourd, accepted the star on her mother’s behalf. Speaking at the podium in front of hundreds of fans dressed for the occasion, she shared what this honor signifies.
“My mom used to say you weren’t actually famous until you became a Pez dispenser. Well, people eat candy out of her neck every day. I say you aren’t actually famous until you get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame,” said Billie. “Mama, you’ve made it.”
For the special occasion, Billie was joined by Carrie’s “Star Wars” co-star Mark Hamill, who also spoke to the crowd.
“Carrie was one of a kind who belonged to us all, whether we liked it or not. She was our princess, damn it, and the actress who played her blurred into one gorgeous, fiercely independent and ferociously funny take-charge woman who took our collective breath away,” Hamill said.
Notably absent were her mother’s siblings, Todd, Joely, and Tricia Fisher.
On Wednesday, Billie explained why she opted not to invite her aunts and uncle in a lengthy statement to The Hollywood Reporter after they publicly reacted to the omission.
“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,” Billie elaborated.
“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.”
Lourd went on to call out her aunt and uncle for statements they shared about not being included in Carrie’s Walk of Fame ceremony. “The press release Todd Fisher gave to TMZ, and the posting Joely Fisher placed on Instagram, once again confirms that my instincts were right,” Billie said.
“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.”
She concluded by saying, “The people who knew and loved my mom at Disney and Lucasfilm have made this star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to honor her legacy possible. 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.”
Carrie’s star is in good company, located near those of her “Star Wars” castmates Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill.