It’s been nearly three months since Brittany Murphy died at age 32. And in that time, more questions than answers have been raised about the actress and her husband, Simon Monjack.
But in a new interview with Access Hollywood’s Shaun Robinson, Monjack set the record straight on the rumors surrounding his relationship with his late wife.
The first topic Monjack addressed was the parallels some people have suggested between Murphy’s death and the death of Corey Haim.
“[It’s] absurd,” he said, adding that those suggestions make him “furious.”
“Corey was someone that had openly used drugs for many, many years and had a problem,” he continued. “Brittany was someone that never used a drug in her life.”
“You never saw, in the years that you were with Brittany, never saw her use illegal drugs? Shaun asked.
“Absolutely not and nor did anyone else,” Monjack said.
And while prescription medications were found in Murphy’s system at the time of her death, Monjack insisted she never abused prescription drugs.
In fact, when the autopsy report came out and listed her cause of death as an “accident,” Monjack believes Murphy was finally vindicated.
“In death is the only place she found peace,” he added.
But when it comes to Monjack’s relationship with Murphy over the years, the public always seemed to raise an eyebrow, especially after he revealed it was love at first sight after meeting Murphy when she was a teenager.
“You told the New York Post you first fell in love with Brittany when she was a teen during a photo shoot. You said, ‘I was very patient.’ What did you mean by that?” Shaun asked.
“I mean, she was like very young. When she was 17, it would’ve been like dating a 12 year old,” Monjack explained, dismissing the notion that some might call it inappropriate. “There was only eight years between us. It was more of just an attraction to the person.”
Responding to rumorsAnd as far as what Monjack thinks Murphy found attractive in him, he said it helped that he wasn’t a celebrity.
“I was in Hollywood, but not in Hollywood,” he noted. “She just fell in love. I mean, it was just complete and utter love.”
When it comes to Monjack’s profession, as a photographer, Murphy was clearly his muse. He often staged elaborate photo shoots with her. But he hit back at rumors that the two got married in 2007 because the British-born Monjack’s visa was about to expire and he was facing deportation.
“My visa was expiring,” he admitted.
“But that had nothing to do with the reason you got married?” Shaun inquired.
“Absolutely not,” Monjack replied. “Brittany Murphy marrying for a visa – it’s so crazy.”
According to Monjack, so are all the allegations that he had any involvement whatsoever in Murphy’s death.
For the first time ever, he revealed to Shaun that he asked a doctor at the hospital to keep the actress on life support.
“The doctor said, ‘She’ll be brain dead, basically.’ And [he] asked, ‘What do you want me to do?’ and I said, ‘I want you to keep going,’” Monjack explained. “Because in my mind, I’m thinking you never know what medical thing might happen in 10 years time.”
But unfortunately, news soon came that there was nothing doctors could do.
“And then, [the doctor] came in with a whole grieving team and said that Brittany hadn’t made it,” he concluded.