Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

James Blunt Reveals 'Pressure' To Be 'Thin' Ultimately Led To Friend Carrie Fisher's Death

James Blunt; Carrie Fisher
Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for Bauer Media; Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

The singer, who was close friends with Fisher, believes pressure to lose weight to reprise her role as Princess Leia in the recent 'Star Wars' trilogy played a factor in her 2016 death.

James Blunt blames "pressure" to be thin for Carrie Fisher's 2016 death.

The singer made the claim while promoting his memoir Loosely Based on a Made-Up Story at the Hay Festival in Wales, per The Independent.


The British "You're Beautiful" singer was speaking about his "American mother" when he said that Fisher was pushed to drop weight to reprise her role as Princess Leia in the recent Star Wars trilogy.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi was released in 2017, after her death.

Blunt told the audience at the festival:

“I was with her the day before she died, when she came down to my house."

He and Fisher became close friends in the early 2000s after meeting at a party, according to his website.

The singer continued that Fisher hadn't been taking care of herself.

“And she’d been really mistreating her body.”

He attributed this mistreatment to "pressure to be thin" for her role in Star Wars.

“So she was really on a high and a positive, but they had applied a lot of pressure on her to be thin."
"She spoke about the difficulties that women have in the industry, how men are allowed to grow old, and women are certainly not.”

He added that she began using drugs again in response.

“She really put a lot of pressure on herself, started using drugs again and by the time she got on the plane, she had effectively killed herself."
“They say it was heart failure of some kind, but she had taken enough drugs to have a really good party.”

Fisher went into cardiac arrest on a flight from London to Los Angeles. She died days later.

A toxicology report showed the actor had cocaine, heroin, MDMA and methadone in her system.

People on social media agreed the pressure to be thin in Hollywood, especially for women, is unhealthy and often times unrealistic.






And, of course, they're still mourning the loss of Fisher.

Fisher had been open about losing weight for her role, as well.

In 2015, she told Good Housekeeping UK that she lost 35 pounds for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

“They don’t want to hire all of me — only about three-quarters!”
“Nothing changes, it’s an appearance-driven thing. I’m in a business where the only thing that matters is weight and appearance."
“That is so messed up. They might as well say get younger, because that’s how easy it is.”

In his memoir, Blunt revealed he indulged with Fisher on occasion, despite knowing she struggled with substance abuse.

“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 [Lourd] blames me in part for her death, and no longer speaks to me.”

Neither Lucasfilm nor Rian Johnson, who directed the 2017 film Star Wars: The Last Jedi, have responded to requests for comment.

More from Entertainment/celebrities

Jenny Mollen and Jason Biggs
Stefano Guidi/Getty Images

Actor Jenny Mollen Is Weirding People All The Way Out With Her Viral Essay On Being A 'Boy Mom' To Her And Jason Biggs' Sons

If you've been on social media in recent years you've surely heard discourse about so-called "boy moms," the weird, obsessive, boundary-challenged moms whose entire existences center around their sons.

You know, they're the young mom version of the meddling mother-in-law who ruins her sons' wives' lives.

Keep ReadingShow less
Andy Ogles
Brett Carlsen/Getty Images

MAGA Rep. Ripped After Claiming That 'Homosexuality Has No Place In America' In Vile Tweet

On Tuesday morning, Tennessee MAGA Republican Representative Andy Ogles decided to proudly proclaim his bigotry on X by posting a homophobic attack on the second day of LGBTQ+ Pride Month.

But by Tuesday afternoon, Ogles had lost his nerve and deleted the deliberately inflammatory post.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump
Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images

The White House Just Shared A Trump Quote Claiming Things Will 'All Work Out' In The End—And It's Not Sitting Well With People

The White House was called out after sharing a pair of tweets quoting President Donald Trump's recent claim on Truth Social that "it will all work out well in the end" as he attacked critics.

As his highly unpopular war with Iran continues, Trump said he believes Iran is eager to reach an agreement that would benefit the United States and its allies. He complained that criticism from Democrats—whom he referred to as "Dumocrats"—and some Republicans makes negotiations more difficult.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Ivanka Trump
David Senra/YouTube

Ivanka Trump Under Fire Over Tone-Deaf Plan To Develop Massive $1.5 Billion Resort On Private Island In Mediterranean

Ivanka Trump was criticized over her tone-deaf plans to develop Sazan Island, an off-grid island off the coast of Albania, into a private resort with her husband, Jared Kushner.

The development will reportedly include 10,000 hotel rooms and villas along a stretch of ecologically sensitive coastline encompassing the Vjosa-Narta lagoon and the nearby island of Sazan. According to Newsweek, the resort "spans wetlands and coastal habitats known for supporting bird migration routes and marine wildlife, which environmental groups say could be at risk."

Keep ReadingShow less
Elmo, Grover, and Abby Cadabby of Sesame Street visit SiriusXM Studios.
Rommel Demano/Getty Images

MAGA Is Throwing A Bigoted Tantrum After 'Sesame Street' Celebrated The Start Of Pride Month—And Here We Go Again

June has arrived, which means two things are now inevitable: brands rolling out Pride Month messaging and MAGA supporters reacting to it like civilization is collapsing in real time.

This year’s completely predictable outrage target is Sesame Street, which kicked off Pride Month with its annual message celebrating inclusion, acceptance, and the LGBTQ+ community.

Keep ReadingShow less