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CNN Larry King Live

Tabloid Rumors About Brittany Murphy's Death Rebutted

Aired February 05, 2010 - 21:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

LARRY KING, HOST, LARRY KING LIVE: Tonight, prime time exclusive -- Brittany Murphy's husband and mother on her shocking death at 32.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHARON MURPHY, BRITTANY MURPHY'S MOTHER: I always thought it would be me, not her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON MONJACK, BRITTANY MURPHY'S HUSBAND: And she said, "Mom, I'm dying. I love you."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: The coroner says drugs played a role and she didn't have to die.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Do you fear the toxicology might say an overdose of prescription medication?

MONJACK: No.

KING: Is that possible?

S. MURPHY: No.

MONJACK: No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Brittany Murphy's loved ones share their side of the story and what they witnessed on the day she died.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

S. MURPHY: It's just, you know, you saw the life go out of her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Next on LARRY KING LIVE.

Good evening.

The Los Angeles coroner ruled Thursday that Brittany Murphy's death was accidental, a combination of pneumonia, an iron deficiency and what he calls "multiple drug intoxication."

By the way, these were not illegal drugs.

We interviewed Brittany's husband, Simon Monjack, and her mother, Sharon Murphy, on January 14th -- before the cause of death was known. Their remarks about drugs and Brittany's health and her lifestyle are even more compelling now that we know what killed her.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KING: Let's go back a little, Sharon.

Brittany, she always wanted to be in show business, didn't she, as a kid?

S. MURPHY: Yes.

KING: Where did -- where did she grow up?

S. MURPHY: In New Jersey.

KING: Where?

S. MURPHY: Until she was -- Edison, New Jersey...

KING: I know Edison, New Jersey.

S. MURPHY: Um. You do.

KING: And you raised her as a single mom?

S. MURPHY: Yes. Yes.

KING: What happened to her dad?

S. MURPHY: Well, he was never around. It was just us.

KING: So she had no father growing up?

S. MURPHY: No. No. Not at all.

KING: Did she always want to be in show business?

S. MURPHY: Yes. And she was very, very, tiny. And she just came out of me a show person...

KING: Was she the kind of kid who danced and sang when she was in kindergarten and...

S. MURPHY: Yes...

KING: ...jumping around, that kind of kid? S. MURPHY: She started, you know, in dance school and musical comedy classes. And she was little because she always had so much energy and -- and it was -- she just loved it and had so much fun and did regional theatre growing up.

KING: How did you come to bring her out here?

S. MURPHY: Well, when she was 12-and-a-half she -- the -- a studio that she was studying at, Fernz Faller (ph) School of the Performing Arts in New Jersey. There was a play bill on the board. And she called and made an appointment with the manager of the person. And I took her in. And they accepted her. And she went on commercials in New York.

KING: Wow!

S. MURPHY: And then they were opening up in Los Angeles for pilot season. So she came out with a chaperon for two months. It was the first time she was ever without me.

KING: So she had training?

S. MURPHY: You know, no -- a little. No.

KING: New Jersey, yes.

S. MURPHY: Yes.

KING: Well, what was her first professional break?

S. MURPHY: Well, she had -- she did a few commercials when she first started in New York and then I think a television show right after she asked me to come out to Los Angeles. She begged me to come out. And I sold everything within a couple of weeks and...

KING: Wow!

So you lived for her?

S. MURPHY: Yes.

KING: As single parents do.

There were no other children?

S. MURPHY: No.

KING: All right, we want to show the audience -- and if you're not familiar with this wonderful talent, her breakout movie role was in the 1995 comedy hit "Clueless." It starred Alicia Silverstone. Brittany plays Alicia's dorky, style-challenged pal.

Here's a clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "CLUELESS," COURTESY PARAMOUNT PICTURES)

B. MURPHY: Look, I have been in agony the past week and I can't even believe that I went off the way I did.

SILVERSTONE: No. I have been going down a shame spiral.

B. MURPHY: I cannot even believe I was so unsupportive of your feelings for Josh.

SILVERSTONE: No, you are entitled to your own opinion, all right?

I'm the tart here.

B. MURPHY: Cher, you've been nothing but super duper nice to me.

SILVERSTONE: Not even. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't even have liked that loser Elton. I'm so sorry, Tai. I'm really sorry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: She was a natural. I know this...

S. MURPHY: That was her first movie.

KING: Yes.

Boy, that meant a lot to her, right?

S. MURPHY: Yes, it did.

KING: And it -- that sort of emerged her, in a sense, right?

S. MURPHY: Yes.

KING: I mean it blossomed her right on the scene. She had a lot of good reviews.

In the years following, she really transformed her looks, right?

S. MURPHY: Yes.

KING: She went to -- she became blonde. She became thin.

Was that all by design?

S. MURPHY: Not she became thin. She was always the same weight. It's just she went through most -- like young teenagers change, like when they're 12 or 13.

KING: Was she difficult?

S. MURPHY: With here it was more 15 or 16 and she...

KING: Was she difficult?

S. MURPHY: And she did this when she was 15. Never.

KING: No? S. MURPHY: Never.

KING: She didn't become one of those I'm a star?

S. MURPHY: Never. No. No.

KING: I haven't forgotten you, Simon. I'm just...

S. MURPHY: No, far from it.

KING: I'm just going through before you knew her.

S. MURPHY: (INAUDIBLE) all the pressure is on me here. No, she was absolutely not. She never went through a teenage period where -- you know, no. She was just loving and kind and beautiful and (INAUDIBLE).

KING: Before we get to the later years, one more scene I want to show you. As you know, Brittany mostly was associated with lighter roles. But she also took on some darker, more dramatic parts. This is one of the best thrillers I ever saw. It was a great book and a hell of a movie, "Don't Say a Word."

Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "DON'T SAY A WORD," COURTESY REGENCY ENTERPRISES)

B. MURPHY: You want what they want, don't you?

MICHAEL DOUGLAS, ACTOR: What who wants?

Elizabeth, what who wants?

B. MURPHY: I'll never tell. I'll never tell any of you, any of you, any of you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: After that movie was made, Mike Douglas, who was in it, of course -- he's the star of that movie -- told me how much he thought of your daughter and what a terrific talent she was. Then she made other terrific movies...

S. MURPHY: Oh, she loved him, too, so much.

KING: Now how did she meet -- how did you come into the picture, Simon?

When did you meet?

MONJACK: I met Brittany when she was -- and Sharon when Brittany was 17 so -- and we kept in touch for all the years as...

KING: How did you meet her?

MONJACK: I took her photograph.

KING: You were a photographer?

MONJACK: Part time. It's a hobby.

S. MURPHY: Oh (INAUDIBLE)...

MONJACK: And, you know, we -- we just became friends and ...

KING: It was friendly?

MONJACK: It was friendly for years, yes. And we -- you know, I would visit her on the sets and see Sharon. And, you know, it was very -- she was infectious, an infectious angel.

S. MURPHY: She was truly.

KING: The romance was later?

MONJACK: The romance was later. You know there are -- honestly, Brittany didn't date until she was in -- in her early 20s.

KING: Really?

S. MURPHY: Never. No. She just was not...

KING: Wrapped up in her career?

S. MURPHY: He...

MONJACK: It wasn't that. It was that Sharon was there. She -- she wasn't -- she was a late bloomer and she was...

S. MURPHY: That's what I was saying with late blooming, that she wasn't like most -- she was always the smallest in her class and the most petite and the most latest, you know, although highly intelligent, like way above everyone at her level.

KING: Well, you can't be that good without being intelligent.

MONJACK: No.

KING: We're going to take a break. And before we go, the autopsy was performed. I'm going to ask about that. No evidence of trauma to the body.

We'll talk about the death and what happened and how they're dealing with it.

Right back with Simon Monjack, Brittany Murphy's husband. They were married in a private ceremony in 2007. And her mother Sharon.

Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "JUST MARRIED," COURTESY TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX)

ASHTON KUTCHER, ACTOR: I met a woman at a bar. Nothing happened.

B. MURPHY: You picked up a total stranger at a bar, brought her back to our honeymoon suite and took off her disgusting red bra.

KUTCHER: Nothing happened, I swear.

B. MURPHY: No, no, no. The bra just jumped off her bare naked breasts.

KUTCHER: Sarah.

B. MURPHY: She sits there and makes me feel guilty for a kiss -- a kiss that I didn't even want in the first place.

KUTCHER: Don't tell me you didn't want it. You wanted it. I could see from the balcony that you wanted it.

B. MURPHY: I'm sorry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: How are you doing, Simon?

How are you holding up?

MONJACK: I don't think I am. I don't think either of us are...

S. MURPHY: No.

MONJACK: You wake up in the morning and it's like a rebirth. There's -- there's not enough time to -- your dreams, be they good or bad, when you wake up and I reach out to touch or hold my wife and she isn't there...

KING: Were you surprised at the public outpouring?

MONJACK: Yes.

KING: The reaction to her death was enormous.

MONJACK: It was unbelievable. And I think -- I think Brittany would have been more surprised than anybody. I really -- you know, her career, by her own admission, in the last few years -- five or six -- had taken a downturn.

KING: Do you know why?

MONJACK: It -- it's funny, Brittany and I spoke about this often. And -- and there was -- she had her theories -- a rumor...

KING: What was the theory?

MONJACK: It was just -- the theory was, was that -- that -- that she had upset the wrong people at the wrong time. And there was, you know...

KING: Was she the kind of person who said what she thought?

MONJACK: Oh, yes. Absolutely.

KING: That can rub people the wrong way in Hollywood.

MONJACK: I -- I think so. And I think there's also -- I mean she was the kindest, sweetest person. I think it was more that she was too kind, too sweet, too -- she -- she was -- she was a -- this bubble that existed in -- in a plane beyond ours.

KING: Do you think there was a downturn, Sharon?

And if so, why?

S. MURPHY: Yes, there was, for probably the last maybe five years. I got really sick. You know, I had...

KING: Oh?

S. MURPHY: ...cancer twice. And she had initially taken off to be with me in the hospital and slept there every day for the four weeks -- five weeks I was there and was just with me always and, you know, controlling all the doctors and making sure all the right things were done.

And, you know, I just never dreamed that -- you know, I always thought it would be me, not her.

KING: To show you the impact she had, her ex-boyfriend, Ashton Kutcher -- and that was a very publicized romance -- wrote on his Twitter when -- when Brittany died: "Today, the world lost a little bit of sunshine. My deepest condolences go out to Brittany's family, her husband and her amazing mother, Sharon. See you on the other side, kid."

They got along then, huh?

S. MURPHY: Oh, yes. They were really...

MONJACK: They saw each other recently. I mean there was no, you know. I spoke to Ashton after -- after she died. And I -- it was funny because I -- I try and stay off the computer. And...

(LAUGHTER)

MONJACK: Yes. Sharon tries to make me stay off the computer. And Ashton, when I read that, it -- it -- I really, I immediately read it to Sharon. I think that was the first time we actually managed a half smile.

S. MURPHY: Yes.

KING: What about the tabloid stories, headlines like "Brittany's Dark Final Days," "Brittany's Demons," "Why is Her Husband and What is He Hiding?"

What did you make of all of that?

They're not at their best all the time, but they were not at their best here.

But what did -- how did you react to that?

MONJACK: Oh, as any man would, with absolute devastation.

KING: Were you shocked?

MONJACK: No, because when we got married there was a whole lot of nonsense. I -- I...

KING: How did you react?

S. MURPHY: I didn't -- they kept -- I never had...

KING: You didn't see them?

S. MURPHY: ...the television on or -- or read anything. No. He kept me completely away from everything.

MONJACK: She -- Sharon was just very conscious that I wouldn't read too much of them.

Let me tell you about Brittany's final days.

KING: Please.

S. MURPHY: This is so -- that's just so false and crazy.

MONJACK: Brittany was, I believe -- she certainly told me and her mother, who she had no secrets from -- that she and I found love together. Whether or not I owed a bank in England over a deal or this or that or the other, I paid my own way. And Sharon will attest to that...

S. MURPHY: Oh, yes.

MONJACK: In the home, Brittany was lavish with gifts. She would go to

-- she went to Chicago and she went to Louis Vuitton and I got -- looked at the credit card slip and it said $62,000. And I said, "You've got to be kidding me?"

And then she said but...

S. MURPHY: No, it was more than that. MONJACK: It was probably worth more than that. And she says, "But we've got to get a purse for my mom."

I said, "OK. And do you do dog clothes?"

So...

KING: Was she spoiled?

S. MURPHY: It ended up...

MONJACK: Was she -- Brittany spoiled?

S. MURPHY: ...like a quarter of a million by the time it was (INAUDIBLE).

MONJACK: She was not spoiled. She appreciated everything. She loved clothes and I loved to dress her.

KING: So what were her last days like?

MONJACK: Her last days were full of the academy screeners, being in a soft, pink, fluffy Beverly Hills robe, momma coming and bringing a soup and laying in -- and laying on the sofa next to the bed and...

KING: She wasn't sick?

S. MURPHY: We'd all watch movies together.

KING: She wasn't sick?

MONJACK: She had a little laryngitis.

KING: Did she have any movie roles lined up?

MONJACK: Yes, she did. She did.

KING: What happened the day she died?

MONJACK: OK...

KING: Where were you?

MONJACK: I was in bed next to Brittany. Sharon had come down and...

KING: You were living in the house?

MONJACK: Sharon lived with us throughout the month.

S. MURPHY: Yes. I was there.

KING: The three of you lived together?

MONJACK: The three of us...

S. MURPHY: I was always there. And my daughter and I lived together always.

And it was...

KING: So what happened that day? S. MURPHY: ...the three of us.

MONJACK: That's why these rumors are so ludicrous. I mean you...

S. MURPHY: I couldn't stomach those.

KING: Well, clear them up.

What happened?

MONJACK: The -- what happened that day was Brittany had laryngitis. I have no idea what to do with laryngitis. I'm a rabbi, not a doctor, so I pray instead of prescribe. So I asked Sharon to come down. We'd been talking, anyway, half the night, so she'd only been upstairs about 2:00.

We were planning to move to New York, have a baby...

S. MURPHY: We were talking about names for the baby.

MONJACK: We were talking about baby names.

KING: You were trying to have a baby?

MONJACK: No, we...

S. MURPHY: No, they were just...

KING: But you were planning?

MONJACK: But it was all part of the...

S. MURPHY: Right after the holidays.

MONJACK: We had this three-and-a-half year romance...

KING: All right, let me get a break and then tell us about that terrible day.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: We're back with Simon Monjack, Brittany Murphy's husband, and her mother, Sharon.

All right, back to that day.

MONJACK: So I asked Sharon to come down and Sharon came down. Brittany, for the first time, was almost fighting for air. Her eyes were not right. They were darting off left, right and center.

Let me explain for -- for the record, a declarative statement, my wife had not taken any drugs that could harm her that morning. That is for -- I will... KING: No drug overdose or...

MONJACK: Oh, please...

S. MURPHY: Oh, my (INAUDIBLE).

MONJACK: Brittany was...

KING: Did she take drugs?

MONJACK: Brittany was...

S. MURPHY: She never took them.

MONJACK: Brittany was scared to take a...

KING: So she never had a drug problem?

S. MURPHY: She had a heart murmur.

MONJACK: Well, she had a mitral valve prolapse and...

S. MURPHY: So she couldn't.

MONJACK: I'm sorry to interrupt you.

KING: So all she had is the laryngitis leading into that morning?

MONJACK: Leading into the morning and then a few days -- that morning she woke up. She couldn't breathe. She went out and get -- to get some air. Sharon followed her out. I'll -- I'll say this, because I know you can't. She said, "Mom, I'm dying. I love you." And...

KING: "Mom, I'm dying. I love you."

She knew she was dying?

MONJACK: I believe...

S. MURPHY: This was about an hour before but...

MONJACK: No, no, no, baby, this was -- you've forgotten time.

S. MURPHY: Oh, sweetheart -- it -- oh...

MONJACK: And then she ran to the bathroom.

S. MURPHY: (INAUDIBLE).

MONJACK: Brittany had -- Brittany's safe haven was the bathroom. I was always pleased she was in the bathroom. That meant she was pulling herself together, you know, reading "Vogue" and putting on lipstick. And that was Brittany, you know...

KING: And then what?

MONJACK: And then Sharon screamed, "Simon!"

S. MURPHY: And...

MONJACK: I run as fast as my large frame will take me. And she's on the floor. I reach for -- for -- for the chest. I'd watched Sanjay Gupta not a week before say this is the right way to give CPR, you know, no more mouth to mouth, just there was the heel. So I planted my heel...

KING: We did it on this show. We had a plastic model here.

MONJACK: Right. That's right. That was -- that was the show.

KING: Yes.

MONJACK: I'm sorry. I apologize, Larry.

KING: It's OK.

MONJACK: So I knew exactly from this -- from Dr. Gupta what to do. So I said to Sharon, "Call 911." There was a slight pulse, ever so faint. And I was just pushing at the ribbon that Dr. -- Dr. Gupta had counted and poor Sharon was stuck on the phone for eight-and-a- half minutes.

S. MURPHY: Oh.

MONJACK: She was crying and screaming...

KING: Calling who?

S. MURPHY: Well, the 911...

MONJACK: Well, she was on with the 911 operator...

S. MURPHY: ...operator wouldn't let me go.

MONJACK: ...trying to pass to me the instructions...

S. MURPHY: (INAUDIBLE).

KING: Were you able to explain to 911 what you -- what -- what the problem was or were you...

S. MURPHY: Well, yes. We just -- I just knew that she -- from when she collapsed, I was with her in the bathroom. And I was sitting across from her with her little puppy, Clara. And she said, "Mommy, please hug me."

And I went to get up and she just collapsed like right there. And -- and I started screaming for Simon. And...

KING: Did you do other -- CPR?

S. MURPHY: Oh, she...

MONJACK: I -- I...

S. MURPHY: The...

MONJACK: I did CPR from the minute my wife collapsed until the minute the paramedic walked into that room...

KING: Did they get there quickly?

S. MURPHY: No.

MONJACK: Define quickly. They were there in nine minutes.

KING: Where is this, Beverly Hills?

MONJACK: West Hollywood.

KING: Because Beverly Hills is three minutes.

MONJACK: I know.

S. MURPHY: Yes.

KING: All right...

S. MURPHY: We're one block from Beverly Hills.

MONJACK: Maybe if we had a better zip code, she'd be alive.

KING: Nine minutes is a little long, maybe.

MONJACK: Nine minutes is long.

KING: What did they do?

MONJACK: They put a breathing tube in, ushered Sharon and I out of the way. I drove us -- they said they were taking her to Cedar- Sinai. I got in the car with Sharon. I'm in my pajamas, it's -- now it's legendary. And we drove down. They knew exactly who we were when we got there. We were shown into a child's waiting room with little chairs and green wallpaper. And a young doctor gave us updates.

And at one stage, he took me aside and said, if I revive her now, you know she'll have brain damage.

Do you want me to stop?

And I said, no, I don't. I -- the power of medicine is so strong now...

KING: You wanted him to keep going?

MONJACK: If there was a life, we'd find a way to -- you know -- to keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going. So finally at 10:04, they came in and said she didn't make it.

KING: 10:04 a.m.?

MONJACK: 10:04 a.m.

KING: Were you there when they said she didn't make it?

MONJACK: Three people came in. Sharon and I were holding each other.

S. MURPHY: Yes.

MONJACK: And they let us know at the same time that they -- that she hadn't made it.

S. MURPHY: But we knew before that. It was just -- you know, you saw the life go out of her.

KING: And this is a 32-year-old previously healthy woman?

MONJACK: Previously healthy with the exception of a mitral valve prolapse.

We had her worked up last year (INAUDIBLE).

KING: What is that?

MONJACK: That is a heart murmur. And it's...

KING: But that must have led you to think it was a heart problem.

MONJACK: Well, we -- I knew there was a dysrhythmia, of course.

KING: Yes.

MONJACK: So I knew she, when she got a cold, she couldn't take anything that would excite the heart.

KING: Right.

MONJACK: I mean we knew the rules. We'd taken her to the best cardiologists.

We'd had workups done and they just said it's just a heart murmur, that's it.

S. MURPHY: And that 30 or 40 percent of women have it. It's natural. It's nothing. You just take antibiotics before you go to like get your teeth cleaned and -- and, you know, nothing showed up.

KING: Were you concerned about her weight?

MONJACK: No, she was 115.

KING: Had she lost a lot of weight?

MONJACK: No. She weighed 115 pounds.

S. MURPHY: (INAUDIBLE).

KING: A hundred fifteen for how tall?

MONJACK: 5'3" and a half.

KING: That's right.

S. MURPHY: Yes.

MONJACK: She'd gained the half. That would be important.

S. MURPHY: Yes. Good (INAUDIBLE).

KING: Any -- any eating problems?

Any dis...no...

MONJACK: Eating problems...

KING: All right, any problems other than the heart arrhythmia you knew about?

MONJACK: Yes. Yes. She had a big eating problem.

KING: Which was?

MONJACK: She had refined taste. That was the big eating problem. It had to be this Thai restaurant, this Chinese restaurant, The Four Seasons, The Bel Air, The Chateau Marmont or the Beverly Hills itself. And if you define that as an eating problem, then, yes, my wife had an eating problem.

KING: A lucrative eating problem?

MONJACK: Exactly.

KING: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "8 MILE," COURTESY UNIVERSAL HOME ENTERTAINMENT)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What about you?

B. MURPHY: I'm working over at Intermezzos (ph), saving up enough cash to get out of this place.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, bussing dishes is much better than pressing bubbles (ph).

B. MURPHY: I'm not going to be there long. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where are you going?

B. MURPHY: New York. I won this modeling contest a couple of months ago. One of the judges said he could help me out. I've just got to get a book together.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What if he ain't for real?

B. MURPHY: All I'm looking for is a ticket.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: We're back with Simon Monjack and Sharon Murphy.

You didn't want an autopsy at first?

MONJACK: No, I didn't.

KING: Are you a religious, orthodox Jew?

MONJACK: I was (INAUDIBLE)...

KING: (INAUDIBLE) don't want autopsies, right?

MONJACK: It wasn't that. I mean I could -- I could have blamed the religion. That was the easiest thing to do.

S. MURPHY: I can...

MONJACK: There was this woman who had just lost her daughter who -- who, to us, it was such a shock, this pristine body that was curvy in all the right places and...

S. MURPHY: Yes, she was in a car accident.

MONJACK: ...the skin like silk and I -- how could I say, in front of her mother, cut her up?

S. MURPHY: I mean it was just...

MONJACK: I mean what kind of insanity is that?

S. MURPHY: ...unfathomable.

KING: So what did they do?

S. MURPHY: In the middle of (INAUDIBLE)...

MONJACK: They cut her up anyway. But that's fine.

KING: Because?

MONJACK: Because that's the law. A 32-year-old dies without any illness, you -- you -- and we want to know. We've spent many...

KING: So you're conflicted? You don't want her cut up and you want to know -- you want some finality, right?

MURPHY: Well, yes, but at that moment --

MONJACK: At that moment a wife and daughter just died --

MURPHY: Are you kidding me?

MONJACK: -- and they said that they're going to do an autopsy.

MURPHY: You know, can --

MONJACK: We're not androids.

MURPHY: Though, do you want an autopsy

MONJACK: And the press seems to think we should be androids. The press seems to think that we shouldn't feel. The press doesn't understand loss. They don't know what it is to have one day the liveliest, most beautiful girl who would sit and play Chopin, and she'd fall asleep under the piano. And Sharon will come and sit there --

MURPHY: It's terrible.

MONJACK: -- and these two women will be listening to Chopin's "Preludes."

then you come home to darkness?

KING: Were there -- were there paparazzi at the hospital?

MONJACK: No, there was paparazzi outside our house. Somehow --

KING: When you got back home?

MURPHY: People knew.

MONJACK: Somehow the world knew before we did.

KING: So you were getting calls and there were paparazzi at the house when you got back home, leaving the body at the hospital?

MONJACK: Correct.

MURPHY: Yes.

KING: Was she buried?

MONJACK: Yes.

KING: Where?

MONJACK: At Forest Lawn.

KING: Did you have a ceremony, a large ceremony?

MONJACK: We had very few --

MURPHY: Very small; very, very small. It was -- actually, we were -- we couldn't function at all, Simon and myself. And my sister and Brittany's aunt and cousin came in. Her cousin was 18.

MONJACK: And her best friend, Haley (ph).

MURPHY: Her and her best friend, Haley, went to -- did all the preparations and came back.

MONJACK: It was funny, Brittany was never an early person and we scheduled the funeral for a certain time, so it would be over, and people wouldn't be walking around in the dark. But there was -- there was a beauty to it, as I said kaddish. The lights of Burbank started just to twinkle, ever so slightly. And day turned to night.

KING: How many people came?

MONJACK: Thirty.

MURPHY: Yes, it was very small.

KING: We'll be back with more of this special edition of LARRY KING LIVE.

Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: We're back with Simon Monjack and Sharon Murphy.

OK, authorities have said that multiple prescription medications were collected from the home. TMZ reported medications found included anti-seizure migraine medication Topamax; anti-anxiety meds Klonopin and Ativan; pain relievers Vicoprofen and hydrocodeine; depression medication fluoxetine; and the hyper medication propranolol.

MONJACK: Yes.

KING: Why?

MONJACK: Well, number one, I suffer from seizures and migraines. So they weren't in her name.

KING: Oh, they were for you?

MONJACK: They were for me. And number two --

KING: Well, then your name would have been on the bottle, so that's bad reporting.

MONJACK: It is bad reporting.

KING: OK. MONJACK: Number two, Brittany had suffered a seizure in Detroit. She was allergic to artificial smoke. So she took Klonopin.

KING: How did the -- the TMZ get the bottles?

MONJACK: I don't know, but what we are exploring a lawsuit against the coroner. There's no way that TMZ should know what was taken.

KING: They didn't get into your house, did they?

MURPHY: No.

KING: They didn't open up the medicine cabinet?

MURPHY: Of course not.

MONJACK: TMZ?

KING: Yes.

MONJACK: If they did, then they were dressed as the coroner.

KING: No -- no medi -- did any authorities open up the medicine cabinet?

MONJACK: Yes.

KING: They did?

MONJACK: We opened our house to the authorities. The authorities came to me and they said, do you have secrets?

I said, no.

The bedroom -- and Sharon came to me and said, they didn't have a search warrant.

MURPHY: Yes.

MONJACK: I said, what do we have to hide?

MURPHY: -- the living room and we were just so stressed --

KING: Do you -- do you fear the toxicology might say an overdose of prescription medication?

MONJACK: No.

MURPHY: No.

KING: Is that possible?

MURPHY: No.

MONJACK: No. KING: That neither of you know she took too many of one substance one night?

MURPHY: No.

MONJACK: Brittany was a monkey.

KING: It's impossible?

MONJACK: Listen to me. Brittany was a monkey.

KING: Meaning?

MONJACK: Meaning that if she wasn't clinging to me, she was clinging to her mom or the dog.

She was -- just had to be loved. And I don't mean that in a -- in a co-dependent or whatever --

MURPHY: No.

MONJACK: -- they make of it way --

MURPHY: She was loved.

MONJACK: She was one of the strongest and most beautiful women I've ever met, but she was a little monkey. She didn't have secrets. There's no locks on any of our cabinets. There's no locks on the doors. The -- it -- it would be impossible.

KING: Now, is it true she was dogged for -- dogged for years by drug abuse rumors?

MONJACK: What happened was --

MURPHY: Oh --

KING: Where did that start?

MONJACK: There was a blind item was issued by one of these idiots saying that the day after she fired a -- fired a powerful manager, saying that one Hollywood starlet had gone to a bar mitzvah and had performed fellatio on a waiter at the bar mitzvah.

And the "New York Post" the next day ran that it was Brittany Murphy.

KING: Performing fellatio on a waiter at a bar mitzvah?

MONJACK: Yes.

MURPHY: Oh my gosh.

KING: Was she married to you at the time?

MONJACK: That was just -- MURPHY: Hey, I want to --

MONJACK: It was a couple of years before, but she rang me and said, what do I do?

I mean she was --

KING: They identified her by name?

MONJACK: They identified her by name. And Marty Singer got involved, the powerful litigator, and they retracted it on page 32.

KING: Singer represented her?

MONJACK: Yes.

KING: Uh-huh.

MONJACK: Yes. So it was a very, very --

MURPHY: And it's just vicious.

MONJACK: Very difficult.

KING: How did she handle that?

MURPHY: When that was -- when the dismissal of her representation immediately like --

KING: She dismissed --

MURPHY: That was --

KING: Agent --

MURPHY: There was just --

KING: Do you think he or -- did he spread those rumors?

MONJACK: I'm not going to say that. I'm going to say that Hollywood has a rumor machine. You know that --

KING: Well, how did she react to all of this?

MONJACK: That I can --

KING: Right, she sees the story in "The Post" --

MONJACK: That, I can tell you that.

KING: Go ahead.

MONJACK: She cried.

MURPHY: She was heartbroken.

MONJACK: She -- you want to know what broke Brittany Murphy's heart?

Hollywood broke Brittany Murphy's heart. I'll give you one example. Brittany made, I don't know, 350 million dollars for "Happy Feet," you know, the animated cartoon.

KING: Um-hmm.

MONJACK: I'm sure your children have seen it.

KING: She made that much money?

MONJACK: Well, no, for the studio. Not for her.

KING: Yes.

MONJACK: I mean her -- I think she made three dollars, 20. I don't know.

What do I know?

KING: It was a good movie.

MONJACK: Yes, a great movie. The sequel is about to be made. They make an offer and then a Perez someone or other -- he has a blog, I don't know his name -- runs that she was fired from her -- from a movie in Puerto Rico. I was inebriated and fighting Puerto Ricans. The -- so they pull the offer.

MURPHY: It was vicious.

MONJACK: After she'd been Gloria for --

KING: From -- from the second movie?

MONJACK: From the second movie, the offer was pulled.

KING: Because of that item?

MONJACK: Because of some stupid item. And her bathroom breaks were a bit long.

KING: Her what?

MONJACK: Bathroom breaks were a bit long. This is Warner Brothers. This is the ludicrousness of what I'm saying to you, that they --

KING: But how does she deal with all this?

MONJACK: She cried and cried and cried --

MURPHY: She cried.

MONJACK: -- and cried and called --

MURPHY: She was -- MONJACK: -- cried.

MURPHY: -- a sensitive little --

MONJACK: She was a flower.

MURPHY: She was --

KING: Did she have a good press agent?

There are some great press agents.

MURPHY: I didn't know anything about the industry. It was pretty much my -- Brittany and I listened to what we were advised.

KING: Was she diabetic?

MONJACK: Hypoglycemic.

MURPHY: Hypoglycemic. She had to eat a lot.

KING: More about this tragedy after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: We're back with Simon Monjack and Sharon Murphy.

How would you describe her emotional state leading up -- the days before she died?

What kind of --

MONJACK: She was going into her time of the month, so I would describe it as erratic. And Brittany had very difficult time every month. And everyone used to duck and run and find a safe corner.

MURPHY: She had horrific cramps. I mean, she was really -- I had the same thing.

MONJACK: But -- but underneath all that was just a happy girl looking forward to moving to New York and having a baby. She'd found love, you know?

KING: With you?

MONJACK: Yes. And I -- and her mother will attest to that.

MURPHY: I know.

MONJACK: It was the happiest time of her life. You know, when -- when she died, I spoke to her ex-boyfriends, because she asked me to. She said, if anything ever happens to me, do this, this, this. And I did. I made the calls.

MURPHY: I couldn't believe that he did.

KING: What did her ex-boyfriends say?

Well, we know what one thought.

MONJACK: Everyone said the same thing. They brought light -- she brought light. She brought light. She was an angel. She was an --

KING: What about her girlfriends?

MONJACK: She was very -- I don't want to say hermetic, because that's the wrong word.

KING: She didn't hang around with the Hollywood set?

MONJACK: No.

MURPHY: Never.

MONJACK: No. And one of my favorite things was --

MURPHY: Never.

MONJACK: -- was one of the magazines nominated Brittany the number one party girl of 2006.

MURPHY: We never went out.

MONJACK: And she hadn't been out that year.

(LAUGHTER)

MURPHY: Never went out. Like I'd have to, you know, force her --

KING: So she wasn't in that --

MURPHY: -- birthdays.

KING: -- in the Paris Hilton/Lindsey Lohan, the group?

MONJACK: No. There was a wonderful comment by Jamie Presley. And they said, were you close to Brittany Murphy?

And Jamie Presley turns around and says, I was before she married him. And I turned to Sharon and I said, did she know Jamie Presley?

MURPHY: No.

(LAUGHTER)

MONJACK: It --

KING: So the broken engagements were not bad breakups, is that what you're saying?

MURPHY: Oh, no. They were very short relationships, like six weeks, maybe two months. And it was pretty much -- well, I mean she was never in love. You know, she -- whoever sought her out, she kind of ended up with. It was the kind of -- type of person, except for when Simon came and --

KING: She liked being chased?

MURPHY: No, she didn't even think about it, because it wasn't part of her life. Like she didn't -- she didn't date. You know, she didn't -- it was --

KING: You mean, she had a relationship, stayed in it, then they broke up and that --

MURPHY: Yes.

KING: She didn't go see 10 different guys in 10 different days?

MURPHY: Never. And it was her that ended the relationships.

KING: On that flight back from Puerto Rico, you got sick, right?

MONJACK: I got sick.

KING: What?

MONJACK: I had a heart attack, yes.

KING: How are you now?

MURPHY: He's --

MONJACK: I'm --

MURPHY: You're not doing too well.

MONJACK: I don't know if I'm heartbroken or heartbroken.

KING: You had a heart attack on the plane?

MONJACK: Yes. My heart stopped. There's a 911 call that says his heart has stopped, we don't know if we can revive him.

KING: How about the speculation -- and I even heard this one -- that one of the reasons for your marriage was to avoid getting deported, because you had an expired visa?

MONJACK: No. Our marriage was for love.

KING: Had you heard that one?

MONJACK: Oh, I've -- I heard I was kidnapped. I heard -- and Brittany paid the ransom. I heard I was going to be deported. I heard that I owed millions and billions of dollars.

I have a green card. Surely people realize that, you know, I love that I'm quite happy -- the federal government are quite happy with me, but "Us Weekly" finds a problem. You know, the con -- the con man that supports his -- his wife.

KING: Back with more of --

MONJACK: It's ludicrous.

KING: -- a strange story.

Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: All right. We're back. A couple of segments left with Simon Monjack and Sharon Murphy.

We certainly thank you.

We know this cannot be easy.

How about stories that you are a Svengali, a controlling factor?

MONJACK: Svengali?

KING: Yes.

MONJACK: I should be so lucky.

(LAUGHTER)

MONJACK: So you're telling me a woman that made --

(CROSSTALK)

KING: I'm just telling you stories that were printed.

MONJACK: Larry, you've got a girl that's made 32 movies, quite happily, before I came along.

A Svengali?

After --

KING: Was she the breadwinner in the marriage?

MONJACK: No, of course not.

MURPHY: Oh, no.

KING: So you earned your own living?

MURPHY: He --

MONJACK: Sharon, please.

MURPHY: He wouldn't let her pay, I would say, a dime for anything.

KING: Another report --

MURPHY: I mean he --

KING: -- again, these are all tabloid, but I'm just --

MURPHY: -- everything.

KING: -- telling you what --

MURPHY: Yes.

KING: -- when -- that you -- you -- you were the beneficiary of the entire estate.

MONJACK: Correct. There was a will --

KING: Sharon?

MONJACK: There was a will drawn two days after Brittany's and my nuptials, marriage. I insisted that everything be left -- left to --

MURPHY: Yes, he did.

MONJACK: -- to Sharon. And I signed away all rights as -- as -- under spousal law in California.

KING: Well, now there was another report was that she was penniless.

If she was penniless, how was there an estate?

MONJACK: How was she -- she was penniless?

KING: There was one report that she had no money.

MONJACK: Really?

KING: Yes.

MONJACK: -- was around then. I'm glad I did a good thing.

KING: Did you get a -- did -- was it a sizeable estate?

MURPHY: I have no idea.

MONJACK: We haven't even begun to add it up.

MURPHY: I really don't --

KING: Well, you haven't seen --

(CROSSTALK)

MURPHY: We're not even very --

MONJACK: Larry, we have clung to each other. MURPHY: It's been really --

MONJACK: We cried 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.

You think we're doing math?

MURPHY: And it --

MONJACK: I mean, come on.

KING: I'm just dealing with what's reported.

MURPHY: He's --

KING: It's not my cup of tea. I'm just asking you.

MONJACK: I'm --

(CROSSTALK)

MONJACK: And I'm just telling you, we're not doing that. We're eating. We're living. I'm paying the bills. We haven't even looked at Brittany's estate yet.

MURPHY: No.

MONJACK: And when we do, we will. But until then, my mother-in- law is my priority. You know, I lost a wife. There's no mitzvah --

(CROSSTALK)

KING: How is your health, now?

MONJACK: And she lost a daughter.

MURPHY: Pardon?

KING: How's your health?

MURPHY: Um --

KING: You have cancer?

MURPHY: A couple of years.

KING: You've got a heart attack?

MONJACK: Yes, we're -- we're the couple. We're going to take --

(LAUGHTER)

MONJACK: We're going to take it on the road.

MURPHY: Together we may -- MONJACK: She has neuropathy, which needs curing. That is where the chemotherapy is mixed with another drug to -- that damages the nervous system. She is no good. She is not well --

KING: And are you being treated for your heart?

MONJACK: I'm being treated for several things.

KING: When we come back, we'll find out what now for the -- with Monjack and Murphy. They're ever -- forever entwined.

Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Where do you two go from here?

MONJACK: Well, we stay together for now, because it's (INAUDIBLE) --

KING: Over in England or stay here?

MONJACK: I would never leave my mother-in-law.

Are you crazy?

KING: Are you going to stay here, Sharon?

MURPHY: We could never -- in Los Angeles?

KING: Or go to New Jersey?

MURPHY: No. We never -- Brittany never wanted --

MONJACK: We have a joke --

MURPHY: -- to stay here except for work. So --

KING: Will you go back East?

MURPHY: Well, I'm --

MONJACK: We'll have a --

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

MONJACK: 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, so that we will be able to keep Brittany's memory when all the tabloids have gone out of business --

KING: You're forming it now?

MONJACK: It is being formed. MURPHY: Yes.

KING: Let us know all about it --

MURPHY: Yes.

KING: -- and let us know how people can get in touch with it.

MONJACK: They can -- they absolutely -- well, there's an e-mail, which is donate@bamfoundation.com.

KING: Bamfoundation.com?

MONJACK: .com.

KING: What's your favorite memory of your daughter, Sharon?

When you think of her, what do you think of?

MURPHY: Oh, everything. I mean, because she was so -- just a loving, beautiful angel that just was -- had the biggest heart in the world and was so giving and kind and precious. We were one. We were inseparable. We grew up together. I mean and would take time for every single person she passed that needed her -- homeless people, little children. She was just -- she was just magnificent.

KING: How is the dog doing?

MURPHY: Terrible

KING: Yes.

MURPHY: Crying, every day crying, crying.

KING: What kind of wife was she?

MURPHY: Oh --

MONJACK: Not a typical one. If you asked her for a meal, then she would give you something to order from. If you asked her for a shirt, she'd say blue would be nice. I did her hair and makeup on four movies. I dressed her and I suppose that's where the Svengali thing comes from. It was our magic time.

MURPHY: But she looked good.

MONJACK: Yes, it was our magic time in the trailer.

MURPHY: She never liked being alone from her loved ones.

KING: I hope you --

MURPHY: And we were --

KING: I hope you get it all finalized. I hope you hear from the coroner soon. I hope you'll put this away. And I wish you happy lives.

MURPHY: Thank you so much.

KING: And I thank you for coming.

MONJACK: Thank you, Larry.

MURPHY: Thank you.

MONJACK: We appreciate it.

KING: Simon Monjack, Sharon Murphy and the tragedy of Brittany Murphy.

That's tonight's edition of LARRY KING LIVE.

Anderson Cooper and "A.C. 360" is next.