Brittany Murphy's husband blames movie chiefs for her death after claiming she was fired from Happy Feet 2

By Paul Thompson

Brittany Murphy, pictured at the London premiere of Happy Feet in 2006, was allegedly fired from the sequel


Hollywood chiefs have hit back at the husband of actress Brittany Murphy after he claimed they were to blame for her death.

British screenwriter Simon Monjack said movie executives were responsible for the 32-year-old's sudden death and is filing a wrongful death lawsuit.

He said the Warner Brothers studio brought on a fatal heart attack when they fired her from a sequel to the animated hit Happy Feet.

But a spokesman for Warner Brothers labelled Monjack's claims 'reprehensible' and denied they had even signed a contract with the Eight Mile star.

A spokesman said: 'Any claim that Warner Bros Pictures was somehow responsible for Brittany Murphy's tragic death is demonstrably false, reprehensible, and defamatory.

'Despite press reports to the contrary, Warner Bros Pictures and Ms Murphy never entered into any deal for Happy Feet 2, and thus, there was not a contract to cancel.'

Monjack claimed Warner Brothers had agreed to pay her £7,000 a day for a minimum of five days work to be the voice of one of the characters in the film about penguins.

He said the studio axed Murphy on the strength of rumours she was sacked from a horror film The Caller for being difficult on set.

Producers on that film also claim Monjack turned up drunk on the set in Puerto Rico and had him removed.

But in an extensive interview with The Daily Beast website Monjack blamed movie chiefs for his wife's death a week before Christmas.


Lawsuit: Murphy's husband Simon Monjack (L), said Warner Brothers was responsible for her sudden death by bringing on a heart attack. He is pictured with her mother Sharon and a portrait of the actress


'She was devastated,' Monjack said. 'Warner Brothers relied on conjecture and hearsay about the Puerto Rico film.'

The Los Angeles County Coroner has not released the cause of death pending the results of drug tests.

Murphy was known to have a heart condition known as mitral valve prolapse, a common heart condition in which the valve doesn’t close completely

The actress had also battled anorexia and there were more than a dozen prescription drugs found in her bedroom.

Monjack denied that his wife ever took drugs.

'In all the time I've known her, she has never, and I repeat NEVER, done drugs. Not a line of cocaine, not a hit from a joint, nothing,' he said.

'She was anti-drugs. There are no drugs involved. The drug rumours made her lose roles, I'm sure.'


Happy Feet: Murphy's voice was used in the original but her husband said she was fired from the sequel. Warner Bros denied they had a contract with the star


Monjack denied that he had been too controlling over his wife.

'Brittany's films had grossed $100 million before she met me,' he said. 'But her career had ended before then. She had gone through four or five agents by the time we met, and she had made a lot of indies that went straight to video.

'She hadn't earned millions in years, and when we met she was struggling financially, from a series of bad investments. She trusted some people who she shouldn't have.

'There are people in Hollywood living off of young successful boys and girls and getting them to invest in things they shouldn't.'

source: dailymail