By Anthony Lund
Singer James Blunt has candidly revealed his belief Carrie Fisher had a drug relapse due to the pressure of returning to the role of Princess Leia.
Summary
- Singer James Blunt claims the pressure put on Carrie Fisher by Star Wars bosses led to her drugs relapse before her death at 60 years old.
- Blunt was good friends with Fisher for several years, even living with her for a time.
- Fisher's daughter reportedly blamed James Blunt for her mother's death due to his method of "helping" with her drug addictions.
Singer James Blunt has laid the death of Carrie Fisher squarely at the feet of Star Wars bosses, who he says drove her to a drugs relapse through the pressure of her return to the franchise. In a brutally frank exchange with the audience during Hay Literature Festival (via Daily Mail), Blunt did not hold back in calling out the demands on Fisher to thin for her return as Princess Leia as the reason she turned to drugs again, and, ultimately, passed away aged 60 years old.
Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker
PG-13
Action
Adventure
Fantasy
Sci-Fi
Where to Watch
*Availability in US
- Release Date
- December 18, 2019
- Director
- J.J. Abrams
- Cast
- Carrie Fisher , Mark Hamill , Adam Driver , Daisy Ridley , John Boyega , Oscar Isaac
- Runtime
- 155
- Main Genre
- Action
- Writers
- Chris Terrio , J.J. Abrams , Derek Connolly , Colin Trevorrow , George Lucas
- Studio
- Walt Disney Pictures
- Tagline
- The war to end all wars.
- Franchise
- Star Wars
Carrie Fisher’s death shocked her many fans and colleagues, after she was found unresponsive on a flight from London to Los Angeles in 2016. It was later revealed that she had a mixture of cocaine, MDMA, methadone, and heroin in her system. Blunt, best known for his international hit You’re Beautiful and his frequent roasting responses to comments made on his social media pages, was with the actress the night before she took her final flight. Speaking about the way Fisher’s Star Wars return was a great strain on her, Blunt said:
“I just knew that the day before she died when she came back to my house and she'd been really mistreating her body and she'd just got the job again of being Princess Leia in the new Star Wars movies. So she's really on a high and positive but they had applied a lot of pressure on her to be thin, which is what they do, so she spoke about the difficulties that women have in the industry that men are allowed to grow old and women are not.”
She had to really put a lot of pressure on herself and started abusing drugs again.
“So by the time she got on the plane, she had practically killed herself. They said it was a heart failure but she had taken enough drugs to have a great party.”
Carrie Fisher’s Daughter Reportedly Blamed James Blunt for Her Mother’s Death
Last year, James Blunt released his memoir, Loosely Based on a Made-Up Story, and having been a long-term friend of Fisher – even sharing a house with her at one point, she featured quite prominently in the book. When the memoir was released in November 2023, it revealed that Fisher’s daughter, Billie Lourd, stopped speaking to him because he chose an unorthodox method of “helping” Fisher with her drug struggle – he took drugs with her. In his book, he wrote:
“Charlie, her best friend, confronted her more directly and told her she needed to quit drugs… I took a different approach and did them with her, pretending to myself that I would guide her to redemption one day — just not today. As a result, her daughter Billie blames me in part for her death, and no longer speaks to me.”
Related
Carrie Fisher's Princess Leia Hairdo Meltdown and Candid View on 'Stupid' Star Wars Script Revealed in Best Friend's Memoir
A new memoir by Carrie Fisher's best friend has revealed the actress had very little belief that the Star Wars franchise would become a success.
Lourd followed her mother into the Star Wars franchise when the actress returned to her role as Princess Leia. Lourd played Lieutenant Kaydei Ko Connix in the trilogy, as well as standing in for Fisher in The Rise of Skywalker, where her face was transformed into her mother’s via CGI. She said in a recent interview that she would love to appear in the franchise again in some form.
