Shannon Lee is remembering her late brother Brandon's "too short but beautiful and important" life.
Marking that it has been three decades since Brandon Lee's death on the set of The Crow, his sister shared a touching message with fans on Friday.
"I cannot believe it has been 30 years," Shannon said in a video message posted to legendary father Bruce Lee's official Twitter page. "But here's what I have to say: His beauty, his soul, his intelligence, his creativity is still alive with us, here with us. We are going to be finding ways to celebrate him and bring him further into the consciousness this year and every year going forward."
❤️Celebrating Brandon Lee 2/1/65-3/31/93 pic.twitter.com/6ro0VEriBT
— Bruce Lee (@brucelee) March 31, 2023
"Brandon, we love you," Shannon continued. "We miss you so much. And we celebrate your life today. That is what today is."
"It is a celebration of your life, which was beautiful. Too short, but beautiful and important. And we miss you. So please think of Brandon today. Join in celebrating his life."
Opening the video message was an archival interview, Brandon spoke about his experience hitchhiking to the Tassajara Buddhist monastery, before it transitioned into Shannon's message.
Lee's death, which was the result of an object being fired by a co-star using a prop gun on the set of The Crow, prompted an investigation at the time. Ultimately, the district attorney involved in the case declined to bring charges against the production company behind The Crow.
During his life, Lee starred in several films, including 1989's Laser Mission, 1991's Showdown in Little Tokyo with Dolph Lundgren and 1992's Rapid Fire.
July 20th will mark 50 years since the legendary Lee family patriarch, Bruce, died at the age of 32.
In the years following Brandon's death, Shannon has been an advocate for gun safety measures in the film industry — notably endorsing a Los Angeles Times editorial that called for banning guns on movie sets in January after the Rust shooting.
Shannon's Instagram post sharing the editorial came days after it was announced Rust actor and producer Alec Baldwin would be charged with involuntary manslaughter for the October 2021 shooting death of film cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. "Thinking of Brandon. May this never happen again," Shannon wrote, alongside a screenshot from the editorial.
"The point is that no one has to use any kind of gun on a movie or TV set," the editorial board wrote in the excerpt shared by Lee. "Even though accidental shootings like this are thankfully rare, too many things have to go right so that nothing goes horribly wrong."
In the immediate aftermath of the Rust shooting, Shannon also spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about how the death of Hutchins was "stirring up a lot of emotions and frustrations" for her. "There are rules that are supposed to be followed," she said. "I am certainly not pointing fingers at anyone because that would be the wrong thing to do."
"But there is no reason for something like this to happen. My heart goes out to Alec Baldwin. I feel for the work he is going to have to do to process this and try to find some measure of peace around it," Lee added. "And even more so for the family of Halyna Hutchins. It's having your whole world flip upside down. There should be compassion for all the pain everyone is going through."
At the time, Lee agreed that real guns needed to be banned from Hollywood sets and said she hoped for "meaningful change," sharing that "in this day and age, with all the special effects that are possible and all of the technology, there is no reason to have a prop gun or a gun on a set that can fire a projectile of any sort."
