Billie Lourd Breaks Silence on Deaths of Mom Carrie Fisher and Grandmother Debbie Reynolds

Scream Queens star lost mother and grandma, both movie legends, within two days last week

By Natalie Finn Jan 02, 2017 6:18 PMTags
 Billie Lourd, Carrie Fisher, Debbie ReynoldsKevin Mazur/WireImage

No matter how sad any fans were following the deaths of Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds within a day of each other last week, Billie Lourd is the one who suffered an incomprehensible loss.

The Scream Queens star lost her mother, Fisher, on Dec. 27, several days after Fisher suffered a heart attack, and then on Dec. 28, her grandmother, Reynolds, had a stroke and died just hours later.

"Receiving all of your prayers and kind words over the past week has given me strength during a time I thought strength could not exist," Lourd wrote on Instagram Monday, her first time commenting on their deaths. "There are no words to express how much I will miss my Abadaba and my one and only Momby. Your love and support means the world to me."

The 24-year-old actress, the daughter of Fisher and Creative Artists Agency co-chair Bryan Lourd, included a photograph of her as a little girl with her iconic mom and grandma, both legends in their own right for their careers onscreen and their remarkable lives off-camera.

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Debbie Reynolds & Carrie Fisher's Mother-Daughter Moments

Lourd, who was very close to both, had joked barely a month beforehand on Late Night With Seth Meyers that Reynolds "gets really upset when I get called 'Carrie Fisher's daughter.' She wants people to call me 'Debbie Reynolds' granddaughter.' It's very offensive to her. She does not like to be cut out—not at all. She started it. It's her fault."

Because Reynolds had been in declining health over the past year, the trio's last appearance all together in public was at the 2015 Screen Actors Guild Awards, where Fisher presented her mom with the Life Achievement Award and both paid homage and playfully roasted the Singin' in the Rain star all at once.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Lourd accepted on her grandmother's behalf in November 2015 when Reynolds was honored with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for her tireless work for mental health causes throughout her career.

"It honestly feel super-weird to be up here without her because she's always been the leader of our family, whether it be award shows like this or at home," Lourd said. "I've truly never seen her miss a show in her life. But unfortunately, our leader needed a little backup tonight, so I'm here to thank the Academy and all of you in this room for this truly incredible honor...

"I'll be taking it home to her right now, so we can cuddle with it and she can put it in a place she's always secretly saved for it." Putting her hand in hush-hush manner next to her face, Lourd added, "I think it's next to the ruby slippers, we'll see."

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8 Roles That Prove Debbie Reynolds Was Born to Be an Entertainer

In addition to her epic career on screen and stage that spanned nearly seven decades, Reynolds was beloved for her commitment to Hollywood and cinematic history. She amassed a legendary trove of memorabilia, including Dorothy's dress from The Wizard of Oz and Marilyn Monroe's white halter "subway dress" from The Seven-Year Itch, and she's said to have made over $25 million at auction when she decided to start selling her collection.