Paul McCartney is mourning Barbara Walters, who died Friday on the age of 93. McCartney’s wife, Nancy, is Walters’ second cousin.
“Nancy and I are so saddened by the news of her dear cousin Barbara Walters’ passing. The 2 of them enjoyed a deep loving relationship over a few years, and I used to be proud to share a few of those special moments,” McCartney wrote Saturday on Facebook.
“Barbara was a tremendous woman who greater than held her own within the early days of male-dominated television and went on to turn out to be a worldwide celebrity known for her many perceptive interviews with stars from every walk of life. We’ll miss her but at all times remember her with great fondness.”
Walters revealed on a 2007 episode of “The View” that trucking heiress Nancy Shevell is her second cousin. Nancy, 63, and Paul, 80, were dating on the time, and Walters had played matchmaker.
“Her mother, who died, was my first cousin. And I actually have been very near this young woman,” Walters said. “She’s separated from her husband, who’s a pleasant man. The wedding wasn’t going well, and so they’re separated.”
The couple wed in 2011 in a lavish London ceremony. On the time, Walters said she cried throughout the hourlong “beautiful and wonderful” nuptials.
McCartney joins legions of celebrities paying tribute to the legendary newswoman.
“Without Barbara Walters there wouldn’t have been me — nor some other woman you see on evening, morning, and every day news,” Oprah Winfrey captioned a picture of herself with the late journalist on Instagram.
Star Jones, who co-hosted “The View” with Walters when the show premiered in 1997, called the longtime journalist her “sister … mother … friend …colleague … [and] mentor” in a tweet Friday.
The attorney, 60, added, “I owe Barbara Walters greater than I could ever repay. Rest well.”
