Defamer Legal Dept. Brittany Murphy's Lawyer Speaks
When we wrote about Brittany Murphy's surprise separation from ICM and Brillstein-Grey last week, we noted that her "people" had been reduced to a publicist. As it turns out, Murphy's legal team, headed by Hollywood's Other Scary Lawyer, Martin Singer, was loyal to the end. We've received a very long, none-too-pleased letter (funny how that works when you bill by the hour) denying that Murphy is "Jordache Junky," the star of a Ted Casablanca blind item and our readers' most-guessed actress in our Blind Item Guessing Game, and that Murphy was dumped by ICM and Brillstein-Grey.
To our knowledge, we've never stated that Murphy either used heroin or had sexual relations at a Hollywood party, which would be illegal and tacky, respectively, but we apologize for any confusion on this count. Let the record stand corrected: Murphy's reps state unequivocally that she's not Jordache Junky, does not use heroin, and did not have sex at a bar mitzvah. (They meant "Hollywood bash," as per the Casablanca item, but we're uniters, not dividers.)
As to the dumper/dumpee situation, these things are almost intrinsically he-said/she-said affairs. Can anyone but the parties involved know the "true facts" about who threw the first piece of dinnerware, or who locked whom out of the house? (We're speaking metaphorically, of course, and not implying any actual damage to china and/or drama with deadbolts.) However, Team Murphy's position is clear and unwavering: the actress cut loose both her agency and management company. There you have it.
Also, while we're correcting the record, we have to admit that we really liked Uptown Girls, in which Murphy more than held her own with the hammy, scene-stealing Dakota Fanning.