Brittany Murphy Charity Shut Down

Brittany Murphy Charity Shut Down

The Brittany Murphy Foundation -- set up after the actress's death to raise money for arts education, cancer research, and the USO -- has announced that it will return its donations. Why, you ask? Well, TMZ discovered that the foundation didn't have non-profit status. That means the surplus funds would go to owners and shareholders. Uh-oh.

Brittany Murphy's mother Sharon and Brittany's husband Simon wrote on the foundation's website:

"We began the Brittany Murphy Foundation to honor Brittany's wishes and to give her family, friends, and fans a way of keeping her legacy alive. In an effort to get the foundation off the ground quickly, we established it as a private foundation with plans to apply for non-profit status down the road. However, after some thought, we have decided instead to wait until we have our non-profit status approved before proceeding to ensure that we can truly honor Brittany's charitable desires. Any donations made up until this point will be returned until we have all our paperwork solidified.”

Wow. I want to believe their statement, but the whole thing is just so infinitely shady. As far as the Brittany Murphy Foundation goes, the website is no longer taking donations, and it now holds itself out as a private foundation that awaits 501(c)3 non-profit status.