Carrie Fisher tells Stephen Colbert about her Harrison Ford affair, why Leia didn't get a light saber


Carrie Fisher and her dog Gary were on Monday's Late Show, and Stephen Colbert quickly swatted at the elephant in the room: the revelation in her new book, The Princess Diarist, that Fisher had a brief love affair with costar Harrison Ford during the shooting of the original Star Wars movie. Fisher said she is telling that story now because she found her 40-year-old diaries, "I decided to publish them, and it was a mistake." "It was a mistake, really?" Colbert asked. "No, but it is too big of a story, kind of, that I can't handle," she replied. "Can you not handle it or can Harrison Ford not handle it?" Colbert asked. "I'm sure he can't handle it," she said, burying her head in her hand.
Fisher also talked about having to lose weight for Star Wars, making a pretty good joke that Colbert stepped on, and her story includes hanging out with Lady Bird Johnson and Ann Landers at a "fat farm." Colbert had a particular question for Fisher about her most famous character, Princess Leia: "She's got the force, how come she doesn't get a light saber?" "You know, it's that whole women — it's a bad thing for women, even in space," she said. "You know, there's a double standard with the force, even with the force." Watch below. Peter Weber
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Nvidia: unstoppable force, or powering down?
Talking Point Sales of firm's AI-powering chips have surged above market expectations –but China is the elephant in the room
-
5 hard-working cartoons about Labor Day celebrations
Cartoons Artists take on creation of AI, spelling mistakes, and more
-
Codeword: September 7, 2025
The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclub
Speed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's ills
Speed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, Stallone
Speed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's view
Speed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talk
Speed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'
Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
A long weekend in Zürich
The Week Recommends The vibrant Swiss city is far more than just a banking hub
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposes
speed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle