Brittany Murphy “began vomiting early Sunday morning and told family members she was feeling very ill,” according to TMZ. The gossip site says Murphy was “taking prescription meds for flu-like symptoms she had been experiencing for several days.”
Murphy died of “what appeared to be natural causes,” says the Associated Press, quoting Los Angeles County Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter. Winter says Murphy “apparently collapsed in the bathroom” and that an autopsy is planned for “Monday or Tuesday.”
Local station KTLA reports the same “natural causes” line, and adds that Murphy had previously denied rumors that she used cocaine
“I am… way too high-strung,” she’s quoted as saying. “I can’t even take a Sudafed. Can you imagine? My God. I think my heart would explode. I mean, literally something terrible. That’s awful.”
Yikes.
“Brittany Murphy’s death stuns Hollywood and her family,” says the LA Times. They say there are “conflicting reports as to whether Murphy was discovered by Monjack or her mother,” Monjack being Murphy’s husband of two years, Simon Monjack.
The Times also gets this very odd scoop from Murphy’s father:
Reached at his home in northern Florida, Murphy’s father, Angelo Bertolotti, said he learned of her death Sunday morning from his son (Murphy’s half brother), who read it on the Internet.
Bertolotti, who described himself as a “retired mobster” who now works in the movie business, said he and Sharon Murphy divorced when Brittany was 4. He last saw his daughter about three years ago.
“Retired mobster”?
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