Culture
Photographer David LaChappelle Recalls Watching Brittany Murphy Lose Her ‘Sparkle’ in the Time Before Her Death
David LaChapelle Remembers Brittany Murphy in a Warm Instagram Post
Photographer David LaChapelle is celebrating the memory of Brittany Murphy as a new year unfolds with 2026.
On Instagram, LaChapelle shared a series of posts reminiscing the late star’s legacy, posting poems that he felt described her and also writing down how he thought her professional journey changed over time.
“It was on the poster for Clueless that I met Brittany Murphy,” he said in a detailed text. LaChapelle portrayed Murphy as someone “a kind of triple threat Liza Minnelli type girl who could dance sing and act,” and a girl who could deeply attract the eyes of the audience just by being herself. Moreover, he indicated that Murphy’s public image and film career had probably been altered by time, thus reflecting the role of her “Stage mother” in the character development and what kind of “Army of illusions” she might have had to fight.
David LaChapelle Recalls Brittany Murphy Appearing “Like a New Person” Years After Clueless
David LaChapelle in his Instagram post on 2026, remembered vividly when he met the actress during the shooting of the Clueless poster. He described Brittany Murphy as a person whom you would like to be friends with right away.
“I met a girl who was the best friend — not pudgy, not skinny either, but somebody you just want to like,” he said and also referred to her as “cool and funny and sensitive,” having “big hopeful searching eyes” and “a natural face that was beautiful in its innocence.”
Along with his tribute to the late actress, who passed away at 32 on Dec. 20, 2009, LaChapelle shared the Clueless poster photo of Murphy as Tai with Alicia Silverstone’s Cher and Stacey Dash’s Dionne.
He added that the time “six years later” he saw a different Brittany Murphy. LaChapelle said she was “so underweight” with blonde hair and “a new face,” and mentioned the “sparkle was gone.” He further explained that during the shoot, she kept going to the restroom with her mother, Sharon, and he didn’t know why.
David LaChapelle Shares Sad Memories of Brittany Murphy’s Later Years and Grief
David LaChapelle maintained his tribute to Brittany Murphy by mentioning a photo shoot in Santa Monica, where he felt the actress had been turned into a more stereotypical “ingénue” character.
“So we’re at this hotel in Santa Monica doing this editorial and they or she get made over into an ingénue, the lead actress—blonde like Reese Witherspoon or Alicia Silverstone,” he said and further added that he thinks it is “weird when parents get involved in their kids’ careers,” though he admitted that it can work out sometimes.
He implied the reason why Murphy’s mother may have been particularly involved is because Murphy looked “delicate” at that time. “Maybe—she now knew that Brittany was so fragile that she couldn’t deny it anymore. She was fragile, a totally different person to the bubbly energetic girl I had met six years before,” he wrote.
LaChapelle revealed that the news of Murphy’s death left him “devastated”. He really stressed, “She was so lovely all the time.” He wrapped up his note with a melancholy sentiment, saying he had no clue why he was posting it on New Year’s, but felt “very melancholy” and added that for him, life without faith is pointless.
The last days of Brittany Murphy and the death of her husband Simon Monjack followed by a few months
Brittany Murphy had been experiencing symptoms similar to flu for some while before her death, however, she was said to have not gone to a doctor. When she started having trouble breathing, she called her mother to help and was taken in an ambulance to a hospital nearby where she died just moments after.
Murphy was 32 at the time of her death on Dec. 20, 2009.
Only five months after that Simon Monjack, the husband of Murphy was 40 years old when his body was found in their house, and it was another tragedy.
Coroner Determined Pneumonia and Anemia as Causes of Death—Still, Mold Talk and Worry Remain
The coroner’s office announced that Simon Monjack died of the same two conditions as his wife: pneumonia and anemia, after he was found dead five months after Brittany Murphy.
Over the years, some have raised the possibility that mold exposure at the couple’s residence might have contributed to their deaths. In What Happened, Brittany Murphy?, Monjack’s mother and ex-publicist Ron Neal stated that they had seen mold in the house. Yet, Dr. Scheinin remarked that Murphy’s autopsy results did not feature any traces of mold in the lungs or other organs.
Those close to Murphy also alleged that she was battling “inner demons” during the last several years of her life, including self-image problems and drug use and eating disorder rumors—charges that Murphy fiercely rejected during her lifetime.
