In excerpts from his memoir, “Loosely Based On A Made-Up Story,” published by The Sun, James Blunt, the well-known singer and songwriter and a close friend of the late Carrie Fisher, has revealed that Billie Lourd, daughter of the Star Wars icon, holds him partially responsible for her mother’s tragic passing.
Blunt candidly expressed the depth of his connection with Fisher, stating, “I was closer to Carrie than almost anyone else in the world, except my wife.”
James Blunt and Carrie Fisher (Credits: The Today Show)
The heart-wrenching turn of events occurred when Blunt was at Fisher’s side as she was discovered unresponsive just days before her untimely demise in 2017. A subsequent toxicology report disclosed that she had used cocaine in the days leading up to her death, and her system contained traces of heroin, MDMA, and methadone. Although the report refrained from pinpointing the definitive cause of her passing, Lourd attributed it to her mother’s ongoing struggle with substance abuse.
Billie Lourd has been admirably open about her mother’s lifelong battles with drug addiction and mental health challenges, emphasizing, “She ultimately died of it. She was purposefully open in all of her work about the social stigmas surrounding these diseases.”
Within the pages of his memoir, Blunt shared the painful realization of his own failure to address Fisher’s substance abuse head-on. Instead, he confessed to participating in these substances alongside her, stating, “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.” Unfortunately, this approach has resulted in Billie, her daughter, holding Blunt partly accountable for her mother’s untimely death, leading to a strained relationship where they no longer communicate.
