The Definitive SourceBehind the News
‘I want to be with Carrie’: Confirming the Reynolds and Fisher deaths
When actress Carrie Fisher died and her mother Debbie Reynolds passed a day later, AP was determined to confirm the news.
In a memo to staff, Editor at Large for Standards John Daniszewski detailed how two persistent reporters were first to get confirmation on the record:
When Carrie Fisher died,generations lamented the loss of their Princess Leia. But when actress DebbieReynolds died a day later, the near-simultaneous passings of mother anddaughter were seen worldwide as an epic tragedy.
It was AP EntertainmentWriter Sandy Cohen who first reached Fisher’s brother, Todd, to confirm thathis sister had been hospitalized. Days later, it was AP Television Writer LynnElber who first reached Todd Fisher to confirm the unthinkable — that hismother had died, as well.
“She’s now with Carrie andwe’re all heartbroken,” Fisher told Elber from Cedars-Sinai MedicalCenter.
“She said, ‘I want tobe with Carrie,'” he said. “And then she was gone.”
Carrie Fisher originallyfell ill on a flight from London to Los Angeles on Dec. 23. While othersreporting her illness quoted anonymous sources, the AP was determined toconfirm the news.
Entertainment writerAnthony McCartney shepherded the Carrie Fisher reporting, making calls tomedical emergency and police sources. Cohen, meanwhile, obtained Todd Fisher’scell number from a source; he told Cohen that his sister was “out ofemergency” and stabilized. It was the first on-the-record confirmation ofthe actress’ hospitalization. She died Dec. 28.
The next day, there werereports citing anonymous sources that Debbie Reynolds had been rushed toCedars-Sinai Medical Center — reports that McCartney confirmed with his ownsources. Using the number that Cohen had secured, McCartney and Elber dialedTodd Fisher at the hospital at the same time. Perhaps because Elber had textedFisher earlier, asking about his mother and reminding him that they had metwhen Reynolds auctioned off some of her memorabilia, Fisher talked with Elber.
“He was tearful butgracious in discussing Reynolds’ final moments and her wish to be with herdaughter,” Elber recalled.
Fisher’s quote was pickedup by many other news organizations, including The New York Times, whichtweeted it and credited the AP in its tweet. The work of Cohen and Elber wasreflected in the extraordinary usage of the Fisher and Reynolds stories.
For strenuous effortswhich paid off with crucial, on-the-record confirmations in a story ofsurpassing interest, Cohen and Elber win this week’s prize.
