Brittany Murphy's mother speaks out and disputes the recent claim from her father that she was poisoned

Recently, Brittany Murphy's father Angelo Bertolotti made claims that his daughter did not die of what was first reported as natural causes and over-medication, but it was actually poisoning and she was murdered. Now, after remaining silent since Murphy's death on December 20, 2009, her mother Sharon Murphy has spoken out directly in a The Hollywood Reporter exclusive.

She states that she has no choice but to come forward now after Bertolotti made the statements about poisoning, which she called an "inexcusable efforts to smear my daughter's memory." She points out that he may be her biological father, but he was never there for her. She says she raised her daughter alone and that they were inseparable.

"In light of the recent publicity about a lab test Angelo had done I have asked some knowledgeable people, and they tell me that an analysis from a sample of hair is not considered dependable unless it is backed up by tests of tissue and blood and other analysis -- which he did not do (the coroner did, but they show no similar results)," she wrote.

In the piece she explains that the lab Bertolotti used was actually an Internet site that then farmed out the testing and came back saying rat poison was potentially the reason for her daughter's death.

"To even mention that the heavy metals that were listed in his test are in rat poison, leading to articles suggesting Brittany ingested that or anything like it, is absurd. If she had, don't you think it would have shown up in the coroner's test of her blood and tissue?"

Sharon Murphy strongly states that any interest Bertolotti has or had in his daughter was for his own benefit, and now, even after her unfortunate death, he is attempting to gain publicity and make a profit.

"She was my baby, and we stood together throughout Brittany's life," she said. "Now I must stand up for her again. It is time for those who really knew and loved her to put those who want to exploit her on notice: your lies will no longer be tolerated and as long as I live, will continue to be exposed."