Brittany Murphy's Mother Writes Emotional Open Letter Refuting Poisoning Claims

Credit: Getty Images

Brittany Murphy's biological father, Angelo Bertolotti, recently went to the media with claims that his late daughter may have died of poisoning. He attempted to support these claims with medical evidence, yet not everyone is on board with the theory, as Murphy's mother has written an open letter to The Hollywood Reporter to refute the claims of poisoning.

"I have no choice now but to come forward in the face of inexcusable efforts to smear my daughter's memory by a man who may be her biological father, but was never a real father to her in her lifetime," writes Sharon Murphy. "His claims are based on the most flimsy of evidence and are more of an insult than an insight into what really happened."

Murphy indicates that Bertolotti had no interest in his daughter's life until she became famous in the mid-90s, and she frames his actions -- which include forming a foundation in Brittany's memory, in addition to putting together a book deal and accompanying documentary about her death -- as a last ditch attempt at remaining in the spotlight.

"I am sorry to be so forthright in saying this, but the time has come to bring out into the open the lies Angelo and [Julia] Davis have told now that Brittany can't defend herself from," she writes. "They did it simply to promote their interests, their book, Davis' documentary and career. The time has come for their false statements to be exposed and rebuked."

Murphy also criticizes Bertolotti for his supposed "evidence," attained from utilizing an independent lab to verify his claims of poisoning.

"The lab Angelo used, if you can call it that, is an Internet site that farmed out the actual testing, and then wrote horribly untrue things under the guise of 'analysis,'" Murphy writes. "It mentioned rat poison as a possible cause and claimed to be able to say that a third party murdered my beloved daughter. To even mention that the heavy metals that were listed in his test are in rat poison, leading to articles suggesting Brittany ingested that or anything like it, is absurd. If she had, don't you think it would have shown up in the coroner's test of her blood and tissue?"

The letter is a scathing indictment of Bertolotti by a woman who is still grieving the loss of her late daughter. It's hard not to read the pain between the lines, as Murphy has taken Bertolotti's accusations to heart. To read the full letter, head on over to The Hollywood Reporter.

Video no longer available.

Movies