01x01 - Part 1

[bunniefuu]

- This room
is a personal favorite of mine.

Everything in here is original,

preserved in time.

You'll be joining some
very distinguished company.

- I bet.

- Some of the first guests
at the Riverview were

numerous celebrities

and movie stars.

- Like who?

I'm not at liberty
to divulge their names,

but rest assured,

the names would impress you.

- I'm sure.

Thank you
for the history lesson.

- You're welcome.

- Actress Brittany Murphy,

who began her career
in the early 1990s

and became well-known
for her roles

in "Girl, Interrupted,"
"Clueless," and "8 Mile,"

has died at the age of 32.

She was pronounced dead
at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

just after 10:00 a.m.

- ♪ I had it all planned out ♪

♪ Before you met me ♪

♪ Was gonna leave early ♪

♪ So swiftly ♪

♪ Maybe in a fire
or crash off a ravine ♪

♪ People would weep ♪

♪ How tragic, so early ♪

♪ I was gonna die young ♪

♪ Now I gotta wait
for you, honey ♪

♪ I was gonna
die young ♪

- Take three, mark.

- Thank you.

Good? Okay.

Here's something
I just want to say,

'cause I want
to make sure we get it in.

I know people always say,
"I don't want blah, blah,

remembered for blah, blah,
what happened to them."

But, like, all of us agree

that one of the most
painful things about this,

other than losing a life
way too soon

and for such
egregiously wrong reasons,

is that
Brittany was so wonderful.

Like, there was
nobody else like her.

She wasn't a Hollywood girl.

The movie of her life is like...
Who walks into a room

and almost every
single person there

is thrilled that you're there
and then knows

that when she leaves the room
and goes home,

she's the same freaking person

in the movie of her life?

- It's weird
'cause stuff happens,

and you don't really notice it
while it's happening.

Life is sort of passing by.

- Media and paparazzi

surrounded Brittany Murphy's
Hollywood Hills home

that she shared with her
husband of nearly three years,

British screenwriter
Simon Monjack.

The world is stunned by the loss

of the seemingly healthy,
young actress.

- I got a call from my editor.

He said,
"Brittany Murphy's died.

"Get over to her house
immediately."

You know, "Get the scoop."

When I got there,
I can remember, like, barely

having anywhere to park my car

because there were so many
reporters and paparazzi

all just at the foot
of her driveway,

waiting, hoping that maybe
her husband would come out.

I'd never heard of him
before he married Brittany

and barely even after
he married Brittany.

They weren't
the Hollywood couple

that was photographed out
at dinner all the time.

They were never out.

He was mysterious
in the way of, like,

"Who are you?"

But we didn't know
what happened.

All we knew is that this young

32-year-old Hollywood starlet

had suddenly died.

- It came across my newsfeed...

"Brittany Murphy dies
at 32 years old."

And I was like, "What?"

- Today I'm going to be
telling you guys

about a true crime story

that I am really interested in,

as well as doing my makeup.

- Could have Brittany Murphy's
death been prevented?

Absolutely.

- She was dealing
with an eating disorder.

- Everybody thought, like,
"Did she overdose?"

- This shady business guy
that Brittany married,

something freaky happened.

That could mean
that she was being poisoned.

- The FBI was watching them.

- Is the house cursed?

- I called it.
I knew she was m*rder*d.

- Brittany Murphy...
What could have happened?

- Speculation's mounting
about the sudden death

of actress Brittany Murphy.

Ed Winter is
the assistant chief coroner.

- We're conducting
an investigation

into the death
of Brittany Murphy.

My name is Ed Winter.

I oversaw the high-profile
celebrity deaths,

including Brittany Murphy's.

We responded to the residence,
to her next of kin,

her husband, Simon,
and Brittany's mother, Sharon.

Sharon was sitting on the couch,

and she'd cry a little bit,
and then she'd stop,

and she'd talk with Simon
or say something

and then start crying again.

Simon appeared to be
somewhat under the influence,

just pacing around,

and he maybe
wasn't totally coherent.

There were several
little indicators

that just didn't feel right,
you know?

You get that... the hair on the
back of your neck stands up,

and it's like, "What?"

They basically said
that they were up late.

She had flu-like symptoms.

They'd been in Puerto Rico
two weeks earlier.

And when they were there,
she became ill.

In the morning,
Brittany went in the bathroom,

and after a short time,

Sharon discovered her
unresponsive

on the bathroom floor.

They carried her into the shower

and turned on cold water

to see if they could revive her.

There was a delay to start CPR.

What's going on?
Why did it get that far?

And if she's sick,
why didn't somebody

pick up the phone
or make arrangements?

Come on, something isn't right.

We'll be doing an autopsy.

The final results will be

pending toxicology
and further tests.

- The chatter among us
was overdose.

I mean, it seemed like
the only logical thing

for someone that young
in Hollywood.

Brittany had changed
physically noticeably.

She was much thinner.

We thought,
"Well, she went too far."

I kind of f*cked it up.

- Good afternoon, everybody.

My name is Ryk Schoonhiem,

and here we are
at the 27th annual

Metuchen Country Fair.

This is "Metuchen on the Air."

Excuse me?
- Would you like a children's...

- Yes, I would like
a children's perspective.

- Great.

- What is your name?
- Brittany.

- Brittany, how you doing
today, Brittany?

- Great, how are you?
- Very good.

You want a job hosting
a television show?

- Sure.
- How about you interview

these people over here?
- Okay, sure.

Hi, do you like
the fair here today?

- Yeah.
- What's your name?

- Carissa.

- Where are you from?
- Edison.

- You're from Edison.
Oh, my goodness.

How old are you?
- 11.

- Why are you here
at the fair today?

- 'Cause it's fun.

- Nice talking with you.

- Give us your name,
and what school do you go to?

Hi, my name is Brittany Murphy,

and I go to
Herbert Hoover Middle School.

Thank you.

We're gonna be friends.

Okay?

- Grown-ups never stay friends
with kids.

- I don't see
any grown-ups around here.

- You raised her
as a single mom?

- Yes, yeah.

- What happened to her dad?

- He was never around.
It was just us.

- So she had no father
growing up?

- No, not at all.

- Did she always
want to be in show business?

- Yes, she started, you know,

in dance school and
musical comedy classes

when she was little

because she always had
so much energy,

and she just came out of me
a show person.

- My name is Really Rosie!

♪ I'm Really Rosie ♪

- Well, I have a bunch of photos

of our production
of "Really Rosie."

She was so spectacular
in this show.

My name is John Menter,

and I was Brittany Murphy's

earliest acting coach/director.

We had an audition.

In walked Sharon
and little Brittany Murphy.

They were an hour late,
maybe even more so.

When she came in, you know,
"My name is Brittany Murphy,"

and, you know,
she handed us the head shot.

And they were like,
"Can we still audition?"

We said, "Yeah, sure.
Go on, you know, audition."

So she sang her song,

and it's that look towards
the other people like,

"We have someone
very rare here."

And the rest is history.

- How old are you?
- I'm ten years old.

- Where's this all leading?

- Broadway or Hollywood.
- Both.

First, I wanted to get
into Broadway, then Hollywood.

And then I just want to do
a bunch of things.

- This is a really cute
picture of Britt.

She's waving to me.

- I'm Kelley Faulkner,

and I met Brittany
when I was 11,

doing a play together
in New Jersey.

- And I'm Kelly's mom,
Marti Faulkner,

and Sharon and I became
very good friends.

Lovely people.

I'm gonna tear up...

Because Brittany never said

an unkind word
about anybody, ever.

She was very funny,
really funny.

She made me laugh a lot.

- We just really loved
each other fiercely.

She had a really naturally
bright and bubbly personality,

and it was completely genuine.

One night, she got
to the second verse

and just completely blanked
and forgot the words.

She launched into
a fully improvised dance break

with high kicks and pirouettes

and then just finished the song.

It really summed up

exactly who she was
as a performer,

which was fearless
and in the moment.

- A lot of people say,
"Oh, I bet you

her mother pushed her
into showbiz."

And I would say,
"Absolutely not."

I really felt
that it was something

that Brittany wanted to do.

Brittany definitely maxed out
in New Jersey.

Sharon asked Brittany, you know,

"Is this something
you really want to pursue?"

And Brittany said, yes, she did,

and then Sharon said, "Okay,

"I'm gonna leave my job
here in New Jersey,

and we're gonna
move to California."

- Family and friends
of actress Brittany Murphy

arrived
at a Los Angeles cemetery

for a private funeral.

A friend who eulogized
the actress

said Murphy loved Christmas

and noted the irony
of her being buried

on Christmas Eve.

- We scheduled the funeral
for a certain time

so it would be over
and people wouldn't be

walking around in the dark.

But the lights of Burbank

started just to twinkle

ever so slightly,

and day turned to night.

There was a beauty to it.

- I'm Sara Hammel,

and I was working
in "People" magazine's

Los Angeles bureau
when Brittany Murphy died.

My job was to find out
what she'd been up to

in her last days,
talk to people who knew her.

What could have gone wrong?
What happened?

You would hear
some different stories,

but the one story
that remained consistent

was that Simon Monjack
was bad for her.

She first met him in 2006.

He was known as a writer.

He was always in the background,

and we were always sort of
interested in Brittany Murphy,

but once they got married,

they were holed up
in that house 24-7.

- So it was very interesting
when Simon Monjack

came on to the scene

because nobody
was really aware of him

until they were aware
of him, right?

- Brittany, there's
a little kid back here that...

- No.

- He seemed a lot older
than her.

I don't want to use
the Svengali phrase,

but it seemed more like

a control kind of issue.

- Last one, guys.

- All right.
- That's it.

- This was a marriage
between a fading starlet

and an unknown screenwriter.

- She was recently
married, right?

- She was married
about three years ago.

Yeah, Simon Monjack.

Now, the thing that's very
strange about him, though,

is that he has said
he doesn't want an autopsy.

- Simon did request
that no autopsy be done.

And sometimes
that's an indicator

that somebody
doesn't want you to find out

what they had in their system.

And I explained to him,

"There's going to be an autopsy,

and we need to find out
why she passed away."

- We were waiting
for the autopsy,

and you start to think,
"Well, okay,

who gained from her dying?"

And then he's living
in this house

with Brittany's mom's still.

- There was a set of pictures
that came out

taken by a photographer
friend of mine

of Simon Monjack
with Sharon Murphy.

It looked like parents grieving,

as opposed to a husband
and his mother-in-law.

But it was creepy.

- Him and Sharon still lived
in the house together.

So people suspected that Simon

may have had something to do

with Brittany's death.

- A 32-year-old woman

passes away suddenly,

and you don't want
an autopsy done?

What is going on?

- The amount
of reporters and paparazzi

sort of dwindled off,

and we stayed.

We were told to stay.

Spent the night in my car.

It was almost 24-7.

And then...
I'll never forget this

because it was Christmas Day,

and I got a call
early in the morning

from my boss, and he said,

"Go buy flowers

and bring them over
to Brittany's house."

I brought flowers,
buzzed the buzzer.

Simon answered.
So I said, "Merry Christmas.

I'm just so sorry
about Brittany."

I said, "My card's there
if you want to talk,

but no pressure."

And drive off.

It wasn't even an hour later.

Get a call
from an unknown number,

but I answered, and it's Simon.

And I'm like, "What?"
Like, "Why are you calling me?"

I was kind of, like, shocked.

I said..."Hi."

And he said,
"This is Amber, right?"

And I said, "Yeah."
And he said, "Thank you.

I got your flowers."

And he was kind of silent
for a minute.

He said, "You know, you're
the only one I've called."

And I said, "Oh."

"And I've decided
you're the only one

I want to talk to."

I had access to him now.

- Many people in Hollywood
are absolutely shocked

over Murphy's passing.

She began her career
at an extremely young age,

starting with small roles
in commercials and sitcoms.

- Brittany was successful
immediately,

booking pilot after pilot.

I just couldn't believe
how much work this girl got.

My name is Lisa Rieffel,

and I was friends
with Brittany Murphy.

We were both childhood actors.

We both loved singing

and the same boys sometimes.

And got a lot of jobs together.

So this was from a party

celebrating us
both getting pilots.

- My name is Chris Snyder,
and I'm a manager,

and I was Brittany Murphy's
first agent

in Los Angeles.

Brittany was 14

when she came into the offices.

TV was fun,

but Brittany wanted
to be a movie star

with every fiber of her being.

She wanted to be in films.

- But, remember, Dorothy,
you're not in Kansas anymore.

- My name's Amy Heckerling.

I'm the writer-director
of "Clueless,"

which was the first movie
that Brittany Murphy was in.

We saw a lot of people
for the part of Tai.

And I felt like everybody
was kind of acting it

as opposed to just feeling it.

And when Brittany came in,
she was just genuine.

She just felt like a sweet girl

who kind of didn't fit in
with the others

and was just trying
and being nice

but, like,
was lost in this world.

And that was exactly
what I was looking for.

- And background.

- When we were sh**ting
"Clueless,"

Brittany was 17, so just a kid.

It was a very wonderful
group of people,

and they all started
to have these friendships,

and she was younger
than everybody.

And there was kind of
a sweet, childish,

lost quality that she had

that just breaks your heart.

- When she got that part,

it was like
the "Hallelujah Chorus."

And you're always happy
to give people that news,

because you know it's about
to change their whole life.

- That's some bump
you got there.

- Yeah.
- Yeah?

You ready to go back out there?

- Yeah, I am.
- All right.

You sure?
Can you do this?

♪ Rolling
with the homies ♪

- ♪ Rolling
with the homies ♪

- Yeah, let's do it,
you're ready.

- Put it in
the Criterion Collection.

Put it in the Hall of Fame.

This is one of
the greatest movies ever made,

and I'll fight anyone
who disagrees.

You cannot be a teen girl
and not love this movie.

You cannot be a teen girl
and not love Brittany in it.

- Wow.

- She just gets every cute line,

and she gets
every cute little moment.

- You're a virgin
who can't drive.

- One of the greatest lines
ever written,

one of the greatest line
deliveries ever.

- That was way harsh, Tai.

- "You're a virgin
who can't drive"...

The way she delivers it
just, like, gives you chills.

It's like, whoa.

I loved her performance.

She let her sweetness
shine through.

So you got to see
who she was and love her,

which was important.

- You know, you hear sometimes
about the other girls

that they considered for Cher
in "Clueless."

I've never heard anyone
talk about anyone

who could have played Tai
except for Brittney Murphy.

- It's the launch of her career.

And if you don't like
this movie,

you're probably a bad person
with bad taste.

- It wasn't until I saw it,

sitting in the theater,

I felt like,
"She's gonna be a star.

She is gonna be a huge star."

- Brittany Murphy.

- I don't think
she was in school.

She might've been emancipated.

- She didn't have to go
to school like normal kids.

They gave you the books.

You could not go
for weeks on end

and just turn in
your assignments.

- Most of your learning takes
place on set with a tutor.

When you're working all the time

and you're not around kids a lot

and your only friends
are other actors,

you miss a lot of things.

- You don't become as aware

of people and what they can do

and the petty stuff
that people can do or lies...

All that little stuff
that you work out

in junior high and high school.

So they kind of get caught
into this vacuum

of not knowing who a good
person is

and who a bad person is.

- How are you coping?

- You don't really cope.

You just kind of...

live this surreal life

and hope that one day
it makes sense.

I'm gonna go home.
- All right.

Thank you very much.
Thank you.

- I'm Roger Neal, the publicist

for Simon Monjack
and Sharon Murphy,

post-Brittany's death.

So, about a month after
Brittany passed away,

I received a phone call
from Simon Monjack.

They needed a publicist
'cause there was

a lot going on in the press,
a lot of rumors.

When I got the call to go meet
with Simon and Sharon,

I went on the Internet
and did a search.

So this shot here...

I wouldn't have them put
in that position.

To me, that's not a typical
son-in-law-mother-in-law pose

for a photo.

We're talking
about tabloid-media fodder.

They had done some interviews

because "Larry King"
is the one interview

that the world watches.

But watching that show,
man, they...

Mm-mm.
It wasn't good for them at all.

- You didn't want
an autopsy at first?

- No, I didn't.

There was this woman
who just lost a daughter.

It was such a shock.

This pristine body

that is curvy
in all the right places...

- It's not like
she was in a car accident.

- And with skin like silk.

And how could I say in front
of her mother, "Cut her up"?

- When I watch it,
I sort of, like...

It's like, "Oh, no."

It made you cringe
watching some of it,

and she seemed
a little out of it.

- You were living in the house?

- Sharon lived with us
throughout the marriage.

- Yeah, I was...
- The three of you

lived together?
- I was always there.

And my daughter and I lived
together always.

- So what happened that day?
- It was the three of us.

- That's why these rumors
are so ludicrous.

- I actually saw part of it.

I had that question in my mind,

"Is this for real
or is this bull?"

I was contacted by the driver

that was driving them
that night,

who happened to be
an LAPD officer

who moonlighted as a chauffeur.

And he said,
"They got to the studio.

"They did this
very tearful interview

in front of Larry King."

- Larry, we have clung
to each other.

- It's been weeks.

- We cry day after day
after day.

I lay, and I look
at the ceiling.

My mother-in-law comes in
with neuropathy, shaking,

needing to be held.

- The driver said that
as soon as they walked out,

it seemed like

their whole interview
was a hoax.

- I'll say this
because I know you can't.

She said, "Mom, I'm dying,
I love you."

- "Mom, I'm dying, I love you"?

She knew she was dying?

This was about
an hour before, but...

- No, no, no, baby, this was...

You've forgotten time.
- Oh, sweetheart, oh.

- Well, the takeaway for me
from that interview

is Sharon yielded to Simon.

And when I met them in person,
it was pretty much...

He was very much in control.

And, remember, it had been
Sharon and Brittany

Brittany's entire life
before Simon.

- I've got an idea.

Let's do a makeover.

No, no.

- Oh, come on, let us.

- Okay.

My name is Bruce Bibby.

I wrote under the pseudonym
Ted Casablanca.

I think she knew that
she had something different,

that Jersey edge.

Absolutely loved that about her,

but she was not
a typical pretty girl.

And so many young women
in Hollywood

are pressured enormously

to look like
the typical pretty woman.

- So this is Brittany Murphy

in the year 2000

in "Interview" magazine.

"You know, a very important
person in Hollywood

"said I wasn't f*ck enough.

"He said I was huggable
but not f*ck,

"so I got these extensions
put in my hair,

and that made
a big difference."

Uh, yeah, welcome to Hollywood.

- This comment came back.

She was cute,
but she wasn't f*ck,

and she didn't get this part.

And shortly after that,
I saw her at a premiere,

and she had lost
an inordinate amount of weight,

and she was dressing
totally differently.

- In my film, the character
that Brittany played

gets a makeover,

and I kind of got the feeling

that there was
a parallel in that.

They had decided, "Oh, this is
what Hollywood accepts,

and so you're going to get
that Hollywood makeover."

- Brittany Murphy
was super cute.

But in Hollywood,

you have to be
literally Gwyneth Paltrow.

- Do you ever take a look
at the superstars?

You know what their thing is?
Hair.

Gonna be a star, got to know
how to fix your hair.

I was afraid to be
a blonde, too,

but I had dreams about it,

which sounds
extremely superficial, but...

it kept on coming back
in my dreams

so I figured I had to make it
come true in real life.

- It's clear she was trying

to become someone she wasn't.

Both her people
are telling her this,

executives are telling her this.

- She lived in a time
and worked in a time

that had a very mean-spirited
and harsh view

of how you were supposed
to look.

You're commodifying
women's bodies,

and you're judging them,
and it can lead

to absolute carnage
on these young actresses.

- They're pushing the look.

She's sexy,
she's got blonde hair,

got this anorexic body
that is so stylish.

- Okay, here's Brittany saying,
unprompted,

"I don't have
an eating disorder."

It's like she knows
she's going around

with a scarlet A

on her body for anorexia,

like so many women in Hollywood.

You know, it's like
everyone knew it.

Everyone talked about it.

- One day we were
filming at Fox.

I was like,
"Are you okay, honey?

"You know, I think the blonde
is great,

"but was it your idea?

And your beautiful body
is diminishing."

And she said,
"That's what I've been told.

"If I wanted to be considered
as a leading lady,

I needed to lose
a lot of weight."

And let me loose!

Like a real star.

- After that initial
phone call on Christmas,

Simon suggested
that we meet in person.

So we met for dinner

at Chateau Marmont.

It was the first time
I'd ever met him.

I had talked
to friends in the industry

who had told me
some things about Simon

that were unsavory,

but it was my job
to befriend him.

When I met him, he was nervous.

He was sweaty.

It was really awkward
being around him

and the way
that he talked about her.

He liked to take credit
for her career.

"When she did this movie,
didn't she look great?

"That's 'cause
I told her to wear this,"

or, "I had them
change this in wardrobe."

He's made himself
the boss of that family.

He said,
"I know how people see me.

"They think I'm controlling.

"They think I'm this.
They think I'm that.

"The truth of the matter is
we were soul mates.

"What it really was was this
great Hollywood love story,

and no one wanted
to see it that way."

I remember after I went
to dinner with him,

I had quite a few
of my colleagues

call me and say, "My God,
you went to dinner with Simon?"

'Cause there'd already
been reports of, like,

"Ooh, did Simon have
something to do with this?"

But it was in the back
of my mind that, like,

"Am I sitting with a m*rder*r?

"Like, did he...
Could he have k*lled his wife?

Did he k*ll his wife?"

- The media, because of
celebrities, they hound you.

We'd tell them what we could

but we wouldn't release
cause of death

until the autopsy was done

and all the toxicology
and tests came back.

When there's
a death investigation,

we don't need search warrants.

We can go on any property.

And so, when an investigator
is at a home,

they'll check
the medicine cabinets

and look for any medication.

We checked the nightstands.

On Simon's side
of the nightstand,

we found approximately
90 prescription bottles

with several different names,
which is highly unusual.

We also found prescription
bottles in Brittany's name

and Lola Manilow,

possibly an alias.

- Do you fear that toxicology

might say an overdose
of prescription medication?

- Is that possible?
- No.

- During the investigation,
I issued search warrants

to several of the pharmacies

where a lot of
the prescriptions came from.

There were several prescriptions

from several doctors.

If it looks like they're getting

too many prescriptions
under several doctors,

then they'll do the aliases

and have the doctors
write the prescriptions

so that they can continue
or enhance their addictions.

- Just give me
the f*cking Valium.

- They weren't sure
whether he controlled her

and kept her on drugs.

There was definitely
a pill problem with Simon.

Brittany's mother...

She seemed like
she was on something as well.

- This is Brittany!

I love Brittany!
I love Brittany!

She's my good friend!
I love my friend!

Let me kiss her!

- You're not going home
or anything, are you?

- She's making me go home,
and I want to stay.

- Kiki, you're going home now?
You're going home?

- Kiki's going home
and I'm going to...

I'm going to go home
in a bit with Joel.

- We're gonna do
an introduction.

So if you'd tell me
who you are and what you do

and your connection to Brittany.

- I don't know who I am.

Oh, you mean my name.

Chris Hanley.

- I'm Roberta Hanley.

- We first met Brittany

when we were sh**ting
the movie "Freeway."

- Also, I think Brittany
became friends

with a few of the actresses.

- Oh, well,
Kirsten Dunst for sure.

- Kirsten Dunst, and it was
like a little clique of girls

that were really up-and-coming,

and they all became friends.

- Brittany was in one of the
jail scenes that we had and...

- She got the hardest role
in the movie

because she played insanity.

- I was hoping that
you could show Vanessa

around the craft shop later.

- I can't.

See, I'm on...

I'm on restriction.

- Later on, "Girl, interrupted,"

those kind of movies,

she usually got
the dramatic roles

because of her particular
point of view

on how to approach the drama,

which was never
like any other actress.

- Get the f*ck out,
or I'm calling Valerie!

Valerie!
- Yeah, yeah, why don't you...

Why don't you call Valerie.

Let's call Valerie
and ask her for some Colace

just like Suzie Q's
got in her f*cking hand.

- I don't take Valium.

- When she did
"Girl, Interrupted,"

we were like, "Holy sh*t."

I thought she should've gotten
an Oscar for that.

I'd never seen anything like it.

- Brittany was this raw nerve

exposed to the air,

like, you know,
if you chip a tooth.

About a week before filming,
I asked her to come in,

and Brittany did something
interesting,

where she made the scene
sort of intimate and quiet.

- Don't want to hear it.
- All they want...

All they want is a number.

They want a seven-digit number.

- You want what they want.

- And when we shot the scene
from the screen test

in the actual day of filming,

it became a much more volatile,

expl*sive version of that scene.

- You want what they want.

- They know
that you know the number,

and they're gonna k*ll
my little girl

if you don't tell me the number.

- Stop it.
- What is it?

- I know that Brittany
understood,

in the context,
the music of the movie,

it had to be that
in that moment.

- When she did "Spun,"
she had to go

neck and neck
with Mickey Rourke.

- God damn it.

Don't start in

with your psycho
bullshit anymore

around here, all right?
- Mm-hmm.

- You want to go back
to Las Vegas

with all them Gucci-wearing
m*therf*ckers?

- You want me to go to Vegas?

- I don't give a f*ck
if you go back to Florida.

- A day doesn't go by

where it doesn't
flow through my mind.

And this girl's yelling at him,
and he's taking it.

And he's like, "I am a loser."

- I would rather be anywhere,

anywhere in the whole
f*cking world right now

other than this room
waiting for you

to f*cking blow up
the whole g*dd*mn place!

f*ck you! f*ck you!

f*ck you, m*therf*cker!

- She breaks the kingpin down

and crushes him,
like, emotionally.

♪ ♪

- I met Brittany Murphy
on the set of "8 Mile,"

and that was
our first connection.

I showed up, and in my trailer,

there was, like, an envelope,

like, sealed,
and it said "Taryn."

The nicest letter that
anyone's ever written to me

just gushing about...

"I'm so happy
that you're here on set.

"I think you're so amazing.

"I'm so happy to have
another girl here.

I'm just so proud of you
that you got the part."

She was like a butterfly.

Like, if you... like a butterfly
you can't catch.

You know, you'd be like,
"Brittany."

Just buzzing around everywhere,

and it's just such a good actor
but so sweet to me on that set.

- See what I mean?

- So I hear
you're a dope rapper.

- That could be the other...
- I like that.

- So I hear you're
a real dope rapper.

- So she was nervous.

I mean, that was
a big role for her,

working across a huge artist.

It can start
to put pressure on you,

to where you
might just even fold.

I really liked
the first time, like,

they make out
in, like, the factory.

Like, she went,
like, all the way.

She just had a lot of courage.

On "action," like,
any type of inhibitions

just went away.

- Was there romance
off the screen?

- Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure.
- How did that go?

- Well, it went.

It came and went.

- It's fascinating to know that

the onscreen chemistry also
is going off the screen.

And, look, I might've been
a little jealous at that one.

Like, "Is it... damn it!"

You know, like,
Marshall's awesome, but...

No, I'm joking,
but it was speculated.

After "8 Mile"
she became the it girl

and I was thinking,

"This is what dreams
are made of."

Like, she was up there.

- You're gonna be great.

- Welcome to my house.

Now, to get into the house...

you have to put your thumb here.

And then...

it opens.

- He actually said,

"Do you want to come
to the house?"

I'm like, "Yeah, like, yeah."

And he even said, you know,
"You'd have first access."

It was amazing,
but it felt weird

for this grieving husband
to be like,

"Let's show the world
where Brittany died."

- Yeah, these are pictures
I took of Brittany.

This was actually used
at the funeral.

Just thought it was
a perfect theatrical photograph

of someone who is just taking
their final bow.

- Their house...
It was so much security

that you're like,
"Whoa, wait, why?"

He sort of alluded to, like,
"We've been targeted,"

almost like
a conspiracy theorist would.

Like, people in the government
were watching them.

- Lots of Louis Vuitton
and lots of Chanel, Gucci.

Actually, that's a really nice
leather jacket.

I never saw her wear that.

Isn't that cute?

But there's just so much of it.

- I was a little bit surprised

because it wasn't
what I was expecting.

When you think of Hollywood
and people with lots of money,

you think of like
a big, clean, modern house.

Eventually we went
up to the master bedroom,

which had the bathroom
where she was found.

- This is obviously
the infamous bathroom,

which no one has managed to
even come in and clean out yet.

This is the little doggy couch

where she actually fell.

She fell
on Clara's chaise longue.

She was put
on her side right here

next to the chaise lounge.

And then when
the paramedics came in,

they pulled her through here
into the...

Into... through the...
One of the closets

into the main room, so...

Yeah, you're the first people
to ever see

the infamous bathroom.

And it's the first time
I've come in here, actually.

- You don't use
this bathroom anymore?

- No, no, I don't use it at all.

Yeah, it's shocking.

- It was the first time
I met Sharon.

She acted like
he was in control.

Like, she acted submissive
with him,

which I noticed,

and it struck a chord.

What happens when no one's here?

Or... or how do they act,

you know, when no one's here?

Because I remember
going into the house,

and the master bedroom bed
was all ruffled,

a mess, like, both sides.

And I was like, "Well, that's
weird because Brittany's gone."

And it just... like, in a way
that you could tell

two people had been
in that bed, recently.

And I said something to him.

And he said,
"Oh, well, Sharon and I...

"Sharon crawls in
with me sometimes,

and we just cry."

And you're like,
"That's weird."

Like, it is weird.

- She's told the coroner

that her and Simon
have been sharing a bed

to comfort each other
after the death of Brittany.

Oh, hell, no.

That is so gro...

Like, it's so creepy
and so gross.

- I encountered a woman
who was scared,

who was distraught,
who was heartbroken,

who had not really grieved
her daughter.

But it was absurd,

completely absurd to even think
that Sharon and her son-in-law

were anything but
mother-in-law and son-in-law.

She loved him like a son.

There was nothing like
what had been speculated.

- Another thing that was strange

was Brittany left everything
in her will to her mother.

- You were the beneficiary
of the entire state.

Was it a sizable estate?

- We haven't even begun
to add it up.

- I have no idea.
I really don't...

- I'm just asking.
- And I'm just telling you...

We're not doing math.

We're eating, we're living,
I'm paying the bills.

They haven't even looked
at Brittany's estate yet.

- He didn't have any work going,

and he wasn't producing
anything or writing anything.

But now he's kind of
in a financial position

where he doesn't have control
over any of her money.

Sharon has all the money.

- His job was Brittany Murphy,

so he had to think of ways
to make money.

- Where do you two go from here?

You go back East?
- I'm going where...

We're glued.
We need each other.

- We have a job to do.

It's called
the Brittany Murphy Foundation.

For young people, for education,

for things like
what's going on in Haiti.

- In the weeks after she died,

I couldn't process it.

So, within a few days,
I think either I reached out

to the family
or they reached out to...

I forget which,
'cause it was a kind of a blur.

But I remember I said,
"Let me put together

a compilation video,
like a memorial video."

I remember I was
in the middle of editing

this memorial video,

email arrived
with an invitation,

and it talked
about a contribution

to the Brittany Murphy
Foundation...

A cash amount that was requested

of several thousand dollars
or something,

and I kept thinking,
"Why would you do that?"

- Simon comes out
and tells the world

that he started a foundation
and that he is going to

charge friends and family
to come to this memorial.

It was just viewed as tacky
and money-grubbing.

- I remember having a really
negative reaction to it.

And I called a few people,
and they agreed.

I think within, like,
literally, within hours,

some of the press
had picked up on it,

and there was major pushback.

And not a surprise,
within a few days,

the whole thing evaporated,
and there never was a memorial.

- The world could see
that this man was now trying

to profit off
of his wife's death

in a really bizarre way.

- He was just kind of,
like, a scammy guy.

He was a little scammer.

- You go from Ashton Kutcher
to Simon Monjack,

and there's some...

There's some questions there.

- We both liked the same boy
at one point.

She got him, though.

Thanks.

- There was some
flirtation going on,

and then I showed up
to some party,

and he's like, "Yeah, that's
my new girlfriend, Brittany."

It's like, "Oh, cool."

- At the time, for women,

that was not
a lot of opportunities.

There could be rom-coms

focused on a female audience
of, like,

some amazing romance
that has some funny stuff

and weird beginnings
or whatever.

I don't know
what the pattern is.

They were trying to stick her
into that for a while.

And, you know,
her and Ashton seemed cute.

- Ashton and Brittany,

from pretty early on,

even before they were
romantically linked,

there was just
a chemistry to them,

comedically, physically,
and on-screen.

And the fact that
that carried off-screen

fed into a narrative

that certainly didn't hurt
the movie.

- In a way, "Just Married"
is the height

of her as a movie star.

It makes just over $100 million,

and she is dating Ashton Kutcher

at the time
that they're promoting it.

That's her being an it girl.

- Star of "Just Married."
- With Brittany Murphy.

- Which is your new girlfriend.

She got to be big
from "Clueless,"

but can you believe she was
the ugly chick in "Clueless"?

But she was a fat, ugly chick.

She tried to transform herself.

What are you talking about?

I don't mean to be hard on
your girlfriend, but she seems

like she's been around the
block a couple of times.

- You know what?
I think she's had, like,

three boyfriends ever.
- Oh, really?

You better wear a condom.
She's been with Eminem.

- Oh, stop it.
What are you saying?

- I'm just saying, who knows
what he's been up to?

When you saw
the movie "Clueless,"

did you ever think
you'd be banging her?

- Yeah, but you know
what they always do

with the ugly girl in the movie?

It's always, like, a pretty girl

that they, like, do down.
- It's true.

- But she was a fat, ugly chick.

- She wasn't fat. Howard...

- What are you talking about?

- Those people are complicit.

All of the people
who wrote about her

and talked about her
and made the headline

about this gorgeous...

She wasn't even, like,
in society's terms, fat.

She was, like, perfectly sized.

And then she goes, "Okay,"
and loses the weight,

and we're not sure
if it was healthy or not

and then still after her.

It's like, leave women alone.

Let her do her damn job.
We don't do this to men.

- I read everything
that is written about me.

"All the bad things that are
said and all the bad reports.

"I am not and never have been
anorexic or bulimic.

"Also, Ashton
didn't break up with me.

It was mutual."
- There's a price to pay

for being a celebrity, for sure.

I mean, if you start out
wanting to be an artist

and then you find out
you're a celebrity,

it's not always what you think
it's gonna be.

It can take a toll
on everything.

It can take a toll
on your health

and on your relationships.

- Do you remember when
she broke up with Ashton?

- Mm-hmm.
- Them dating?

- Mm-hmm.

I don't want to talk about that.

Who cares?
Just a breakup.

- I know that there
were situations

that left her heartbroken.

She must have been, like,
searching for something

that wasn't coming through
or wasn't being realistic

in the sort of
Hollywood universe.

- I think as human beings,
we second-guess ourselves,

and we wonder, and we also
get used to habits and...

And depending on certain people

that may be unhealthy
for your life.

And you don't realize it
at the time,

but once you're free of them,
then you realize

there's a whole universe
out there,

and you feel like
a complete new person again.

- Brittany Murphy had
dated around in a normal way

for someone in their 20s.

Ashton Kutcher told a source
he had never met anyone

who wanted
to get married so badly.

She was ready to settle down.

She got engaged to an older man.

That did not work out.

She dated someone
who worked on the crew.

He was sort of
a younger, hot guy

that was around
the same age as her

and they got engaged as well.

She broke up with him
just before she stopped

working on "Ramen Girl"
in Tokyo.

- I thought it was so brave
coming to Tokyo,

but I'm a complete mess.

I'm so alone.

- She landed back in L.A.,

and she was single,

and she had a meeting set up
with Simon Monjack,

who was known as a writer
and a director as well.

So she went
and took this meeting.

From that day on, basically
they were inseparable.

She was ready.

This Simon Monjack seemed
to also want to settle down,

and I think they came
to those terms pretty quickly,

where they were both serious.

So that's where Brittany was
when she met Simon.

- So stop living your life

like you're
in some kind of a movie.

- Excuse me?
- Stop trying to cast

your true love instead
of just meeting him.

Love isn't always
a lightning bolt, you know?

Maybe true love is a decision

to take a chance with somebody.

Maybe love isn't something
that happens to you.

Maybe it's something
you have to choose.

- So what do I do?
- Well, you could start

by putting all of those
fantasies of true love

where they belong...

Into a work of fiction.

- I think she had
not a great track record

with men who cared about her.

And she was a romantic.

She really wanted to find a guy

who loved her, and...

I really wonder if she thought
she had found that in Simon.

Personally, I hope she had
so she had that peace.

I think it's crystal clear

Simon was interested in Simon,

not in Brittany.

- She wanted to marry him.

And I said, "Honey,
it's not been long enough."

I think we were all sort of
saying the same thing,

except for Sharon.

I think Sharon was
for the marriage.

- Sharon raised Brittany
as a single mom,

and Simon became
the man of the house.

Sharon and Brittany
had blind faith.

If Simon said,
"We have to do this,"

there was no question.

They did it.

- Her father left
when she was quite young,

and there was definitely
an issue there.

She was in search
of a father figure,

somebody who would take care
of her and her mom.

Simon gave her
so much attention,

and he said
that he was a billionaire.

- The transition
that Brittany made

was parallel with the
transition that Sharon made.

From a very focused,
caring, strong mom

to someone
who seemed hypnotized.

We all were scared
and freaked out.

Like, who was this guy?

And what was happening?

- The coroner's office says
Murphy's autopsy is complete,

and results from toxicology
and tissue tests

will help in determining
the official cause of death.

- I'm Dr. Lisa Scheinin,

deputy medical examiner,

also known as
a forensic pathologist,

and I did the autopsy
on Brittany Murphy.

I love puzzles.

I always do puzzles every day.

And to me, an autopsy is just
another puzzle to solve.

One of the things I did
was a blood count.

Hemoglobin is the compound
inside the red blood cells

that carries the oxygen.

Her hemoglobin was 3.0.

The normal is 12 to 15 1/2.

So all of that was saying that
this is a very anemic person.

If she had
had this test, let's say,

a week or two before dying

and they had a result like this,

any decent doctor
would have her in the ER,

hooked up to a transfusion
as quick as they possibly could

because this is
a life-threatening situation.

We do a very quick and easy test

to see if the lungs float
in water or not.

They're supposed to float
in water

because they're supposed
to be filled with air.

So you just fill a bucket
with water.

You take a little section
of the lung,

dump it in the water,
see if it floats.

We took a section
from every lobe of the lung,

three of them sank.

So this tells us we've got
a severe pneumonia going on.

This was not something

that she just got
a day or so before.

She was walking around
with this for some time.

The third thing was
the toxicology test.

She had no evidence of alcohol

or any drugs of abuse
in her system.

She had all prescription

and over-the-counter
medications.

The anemia in itself
would've been fatal,

even without the pneumonia.

The pneumonia was fatal.

And then you're adding this
to the equation.

This could be the straw
that breaks the camel's back.

In the end, I called the
main cause of death pneumonia

and then contributory factors...

I put the iron deficiency
anemia.

She probably had
her resistance lowered

because
of the very severe anemia,

then this pneumonia comes along,

and it tips the scales.

If she had gotten
to a hospital early enough,

you can detect a pneumonia
on the chest X-ray.

It's very easy to do.

They could have possibly
started treatment.

But she would've had a chance.

- You know,
a healthy, young person

doesn't die of pneumonia.

I don't understand.

I... that doesn't...
The whole thing...

That answer
didn't really satisfy me.

- Usually
when an autopsy comes out,

somebody passes away,

the coroner says
this is how this person died,

and that's the end of the story.

In this particular case,

it wasn't the end of the story.

There were more
unanswered questions

after the autopsy came out

than there were
answered questions.

- It says her cause of death
was pneumonia.

Pneumonia, pneumonia, pneumonia?

- She was a celebrity.
She was very affluent.

She had money.
She had the means.

- Again, I would've took
my wife to the hospital.

- You knew that she'd been
sick for a long time.

Why didn't you take her
to the doctor?

- Was there anything
out of the ordinary

with her in the days or weeks
or months prior to her death?

Sharon, anything?
- No.

- No.

She was...

We had... all had
a little bit of a...

upper respiratory, um, flu

'cause we were traveling.

She had it the least
of the three of us.

- She had a little bit
of laryngitis.

- Laryngitis, yes.

- That was the only thing,
and she...

Other than that, she was,

you know, perfectly healthy
and well.

- Something made her sick,

and I did get
the feeling that he knew.

- I think that Simon realized
that I wasn't stupid.

He did his best to just
kind of stay low profile.

- It was believed that
he contributed to her death

in at least some way.

So, you know,
you start backwards.

You start with Brittany.

And you say, "Okay.

"Something horrible
went on here.

Like, so who is this guy?"

- ♪ I'll never tell ♪

- A healthy 32-year-old
doesn't just die.

- ♪ I'll never tell ♪

- I was gonna find out his lies

and some of the stuff
he'd been doing,

some of his past history.

- ♪ I'll never tell ♪

- Who was this guy,
and what was happening?

- ♪ I'll never tell ♪

Any of you.

Any of you.

♪ Any of you ♪

♪ ♪

- Can you guys just tell me

who was Simon Monjack?