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.

Make us preferred on Google

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

Millie Bobby Brown on 'Celebrity Substitute'
@celebritysubstitute/TikTok

Millie Bobby Brown Praised For Changing Her Accent Mid-Conversation While Speaking With Kids So They Could Understand Her Better

You can tell a lot by how people interact with children, and Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown has wowed viewers with her recent interaction with a group of children while giving them a mini-lesson on film acting.

While guest-starring on the Celebrity Substitute series, Brown sat down with a group of young children to talk about a few basic terms found in film acting, including "action" and knowing your "mark."

Keep ReadingShow less
Elderly man smacking a Cubs spectator
@breaking911/X

Older Chicago Cubs Fan Sparks Outrage After Smacking Younger Guy For Not Standing During National Anthem In Viral Video

At this point about 99% of conservatives' politics is based around feeling like even tacit disagreement is an attack on them personally, and a new viral video shows this delusion in action.

People have been left shocked by the clip, filmed in the stands of a Chicago Cubs game, in which an elderly fan slaps a stranger upside the head for not standing during the National Anthem.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ferran Torres
Calvin Hernandez/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images

Spain's World Cup Final Goal Scorer Has Fans Spiraling After Sporting MAGA-Style Hat For Victory Parade

Ferran Torres, who scored the game-winning goal in Spain's 1-0 win over Argentina in the World Cup final on Sunday, had fans scratching their heads after he sported a red MAGA-style "Make Spain Great Again" hat for the team's victory parade in Madrid.

Torres, who plays for Barcelona, posted photos on Instagram wearing a cap that closely resembles one of President Donald Trump's signature "Make America Great Again" hats.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Jasmine Crockett
@atrupar/X

Jasmine Crockett Just Bluntly Called Out The GOP-Led Congressional Hearing Targeting The Smithsonian For What It Is—And We're Nodding Hard

Texas Democratic Representative Jasmine Crockett summed up the point of a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform's Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency's hearing on Tuesday about the National Museum of American History's alleged "extreme political activism."

Smithsonian National Museum of American History Director Dr. Anthea Hartig faced scrutiny on Capitol Hill after a White House report accused the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History of becoming a taxpayer-funded center of "ideological capture" and "extreme political activism."

Keep ReadingShow less
Ryan Gosling attends "Project Hail Mary" New York premiere at Lincoln Center.
Dominik Bindl/FilmMagic

The 'La La Land' Poster Was Just Officially Edited To Fix Ryan Gosling's Bent Hand—And Fans Have Thoughts

If you've spent the last decade unable to unsee Ryan Gosling's oddly bent hand on the La La Land poster, you're not alone. The visual quirk became an enduring talking point among fans. And now, for the film's 10-year anniversary, it's officially been fixed.

The poster for the iconic 2016 musical has been subtly adjusted ahead of its theatrical re-release on August 16 to celebrate its 10th anniversary. While the original artwork shows Gosling's character, Sebastian, with his hand tilted downward in the famous dance pose, the updated version straightens it to mirror Emma Stone's Mia.

Keep ReadingShow less