The Brittany Murphy Foundation has revealed it will return its donations. The charity was set up following the actresses’ death to raise money for arts education, cancer research and the USO. However, its purpose was called into question when it was revealed by TMZ that the foundation did not have non-profit status (non-profit status means an organisation does not distribute its surplus funds to owners or shareholders, but uses them to help pursue its goals).
"We began the Brittany Murphy Foundation to honour Brittany's wishes and to give her family, friends and fans a way of keeping her legacy alive,” Brittany’s mother Sharon and the actress’ husband Simon Monjack wrote in a post on the foundation’s website. “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 honour Brittany's charitable desires,” the statement continued. “Any donations made up until this point will be returned until we have all our paperwork solidified.”
More celebrity gossip on handbag.com.
