Sad history behind Brittany Murphy's home that saw too many tragedies

Publish date: 2024-09-05

Film star Brittany Murphy graced our screens in cult features like Clueless and award-winning movies such as 8 Mile. The actress had reached the height of her success, and it appeared it wasn’t going to end. However, in 2009, the star suddenly collapsed on her bathroom floor and was rushed to hospital. She tragically died a few hours later, at only 32 years old.

Since the Hollywood star’s death, wild conspiracy theories and internet sleuths have attempted to figure out what happened to Brittany Murphy. It appeared from the outside the movie star was at the beginning of her long and successful career. She appeared opposite Eminem in the award-winning film 8 Mile, and had come a long way since the awkward girl in Clueless. But Brittany Murphy’s death, 14 years on, still resonates with fans.

Brittany Murphy’s death concerned fans

A coroner’s report over Brittany Murphy’s death noted pneumonia as the reason for her passing. It also added contributing factors of iron deficiency anemia and multiple drug intoxication on the report.

But movie fans were suspicious of someone so young dying of the condition. Her family were also seeking answers, as her father filed suit against the Los Angeles Coroner’s Office and the Police Department three years later. It came after toxicology testing revealed dangerous amounts of lead in her hair. But they determined the lead came from her hairspray or hair dye she had been using.

There were no evidence of lead or mold spores in her system during the autopsy.

The home was also tested for dangerous mold only two months before her death. It found nothing.

The coroner who worked on the case told HBO Max in the TV documentary What Happened to Brittany Murphy? he believes she could have survived if she went into hospital before collapsing.

Brittany had lived in her home for 6 years

The 32-year-old had purchased the home, fully furnished, from music star Britney Spears in 2003. She paid $3.85 million for it and lived there for just under six years.

Her husband Simon, whom she married in 2007, and mom, Sharon Murphy, also lived there with her.

It was her mom Sharon who called 911 on that fateful morning when the Clueless star collapsed. She was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical center for treatment, but sadly died.

Simon’s mother, Linda, fueled conspiracy theories over mold again in 2013, three years after his death. She claimed her son had found ‘severe mold’ in the home before he died, despite tests showing up negative.

She ‘absolutely hated’ her LA mansion

Despite the celebrity‘s success in cinema, Brittany Murphy had a downfall before her death. Appearing in Happy Feet as Gloria, she was dropped from the sequel over allegations of drug use.

Her character in The Expendables was also axed, as well as a role in Disney‘s Tinker Bell flick, writes The Sun. But Dr Lisa Scheinin, the deputy medical examiner who conducted her autopsy, says there were “no evidence of alcohol or any drugs of abuse in her system”.

Her net worth at the time was $10 million, but she wasn’t happy living in the home once owned by Britney Spears.

Her partner Simon told The Hollywood Reporter before he died that Brittany “absolutely hated” the home and felt it was unlucky.

Brittany Murphy’s death was tragic in itself, but her husband Simon Monjack died less than six months afterward in the same house. On May 23, 2010, he passed away, with the coroner also noting pneumonia and anemia on the report as well.

‘Britney Spears’ strange encounter made her leave forever’

Britney, who was with Justin Timberlake at the time, apparently had a strange encounter in the home. It freaked out so much, she packed up and never went back. She says she had an otherworldly encounter where ‘bad spirits’ entered the home and hurt her.

Her former makeup artist, Julianne Kaye, recalled what he was told in a podcast interview in 2021. He told the We Need To Talk About Britney show that the singer phoned in a panic.

Kaye explained: “[Spears] had that place up on Sunset Plaza — and I’m just gonna say, this is really weird … She calls me … I had my friend do reiki healing on her.

“He had come up; I guess she’d had a crazy partying weekend and needed to relax. He left, and she swears to God that he opened some spirit portal or something, and these bad spirits had come in … and they were trying to, like, push her down the stairs or something crazy.

“It was so bad that she left. She went to the Casa Del Mar hotel to stay there and never went back to the house. She goes, ‘I know you’re gonna think I’m crazy. I’m not crazy. I know what I saw. I know what I felt.'”

Simon, following Brittany Murphy’s death, said the star thought the home was ‘unlucky’. It urged the pair to plan to move, and they chose New York, in the hopes of starting a family.

Tragically, Brittany never got to see her dreams come true, as she died before they made the leap.

Brittany Murphy’s home was torn down

Her mom Sharon finally sold the estate two years after Brittany Murphy’s death, at a loss for $2.7 million. She had struggled to find a buyer for the lot.

In 2013, it was torn down, with aims to transform it into a contemporary structure. But it changed hands again in 2017 for $14.53 million, and it looked drastically different to when the movie star lived there.

It was last sold in December 2020 for $11.59 million. It currently has five bedrooms and eight and a half bathrooms, it stands at 9,400 square feet.

The real estate flip also now contains a home theater, wine cellar, infinity pool, spa, massage room and an elevator.