Did Brittany Murphy's Husband Simon Monjack Turn Her Into A Hollywood Outcast?

A look back into reports on Brittany Murphy‘s life reveals some very disturbing accounts of her husband Simon Monjack.  Over the past three years, countless stories have surfaced about Simon, and his strange — even controlling — behavior.

As far back as May 2007, when Brittany and Simon first got married, eyebrows were raised. The National Enquirer (via Page Six) reported then that Monjack, who is British, was “arrested on expired visa charges in the middle of the night on Mar. 27 – just over a month before the couple’s rushed marriage,” suggesting that they got married so Simon could stay in the country. At the time, Monjack’s lawyer insisted the accounts came from “disgruntled ex-girlfriends” … but the story didn’t end there.

While Brittany — who died tragically in her shower on Dec. 20 at age 32 — was filming Across the Hall in LA in February of 2008, it was reported that Simon, her “ever-present oddball husband” was creating problems for Brittany.  A source told Page Six that people involved with the film complained: “Simon lurks around the set and intervenes so much that producers had to call a meeting to discuss how to deal with him.”

And in August 2008, the Pop Wrap column of the New York Post reported, “Ever since Brittany married Simon Monjack, a possible con artist, her reputation hasn’t been the same. She’s been dropped from projects, almost entirely outcasted from Hollywood and seemingly lobotomized.”

Even the day after Brittany’s death, it was reported, “Monjack is also now being linked to Murphy’s latest departure from the movie The Caller which Brittany was let go from just two weeks before her death.” Adding, “It wasn’t Murphy’s behavior that pushed the actress out of the film set —it was Monjack’s.  The producers wanted to keep him away. Brittany of course defended him. And so she was let go.” 

So what do you think? Is this a case of a Howard K. Stern or Sam Lutfi? Or is Simon just getting the blame for Brittany’s own bad choices?  —Corynne Steindler with Courtney Pollack