Celebrity Mound

Actor Billy Bob Thornton’s estranged daughter, charged with neglect in the death of her infant goddaughter, was a longtime friend of the baby’s mother and is “very distressed” about the situation, the woman’s mother said Tuesday.

Thornton’s first wife, Melissa Parish, told The Associated Press that her daughter Amanda Brumfield is “very distressed and very sad about what happened” to 1-year-old Olivia Garcia. She said Brumfield, 29, lost touch with the star of films such as “Monster’s Ball” when he moved to California more than 20 years ago.

Brumfield and the infant’s mother, Heather Murphy, have been friends for years.

“Amanda was always offering to look after her kids. She was even at the hospital when Olivia was born,” Parish said. “Amanda has bought formula and clothes for the kids.”

Parish said Murphy and her daughter were still close after the child’s death in October and grieved together but said the relationship quickly fizzled since the arrest.

Brumfield told investigators the girl acted normally and ate bananas after she fell from a playpen and hit her head, according to police documents.

But detectives believe Brumfield’s story was inconsistent with the girl’s injuries, and she was charged Friday with child neglect causing harm or disability. An autopsy determined the girl had a fractured skull and brain injury, and the medical examiner ruled the death a homicide.

Brumfield says she didn’t notice anything wrong with the baby until she tried to move Olivia two hours later, after the girl had fallen asleep.

“When I spoke with Amanda that night, I could hear Olivia in the background and she was laughing and giggling,” Parish said. “She was fine. She even texted Heather that night about Olivia climbing out of the playpen.”

As for Brumfield’s relationship with her father, Parish said there was no animosity between the two.

“She does not receive any money or support from him,” said Parish, who divorced Thornton in 1980.

“They’ve talked, but it’s very hard to hold a relationship from one coast to the other. It’s just how things are.”

The oldest daughter of Billy Bob Thornton faces charges in the death of a 1-year-old girl she was babysitting in October, a celebrity gossip Web site reported Sunday.

Ocoee (oh COH’ ee) police confirmed that 29-year-old Amanda Brumfield is charged with child neglect causing harm or disability and was in custody.

Web site tmz.com reported she is Thornton’s daughter, but police spokesman Lee Stephens said the police records department was closed Sunday and he couldn’t find out whether Brumfield is related to Thornton.

Brumfield told detectives that a girl she was babysitting hit her head in a fall in an Ocoee home on Oct. 3, Detective James Berish said in a news release. Brumfield called for help more than two hours later when she couldn’t revive the girl, police in the city near Orlando said.

An autopsy determined the girl had a fractured skull and brain injury. The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide and said the explanation Brumfield gave was inconsistent with the child’s injuries, police said.

Thornton’s publicist Arnold Robinson said the actor has not had contact with Brumfield for quite some time.

He wouldn’t confirm that Brumfield was the woman arrested, but that when Thornton was “informed about this situation” he commented that, “Anytime a baby’s life is lost is an unimaginable tragedy and my heart goes out to the baby’s family and loved ones.”

Police did not know whether Brumfield had an attorney.

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Joaquin, you have competition. In a radio appearance reminiscent of David’s Letterman’s recent interview with actor-turned-rapper Joaquin Phoenix, Billy Bob Thornton gave a puzzling and difficult interview Wednesday.

Appearing on CBC radio, the Canadian public broadcaster, Thornton evaded simple questions and criticized the host for mentioning his movie background.

Thornton appeared on the show with his band, the Boxmasters, who are on tour with Willie Nelson.

When host Jian Ghomeshi asked Thornton when the band formed, Thornton said: “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Thornton mostly gave brief, sometimes monosyllabic, answers. Asked what music he listened to when he was young, Thornton spoke about reading the magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland.

The actor took offense when Ghomeshi suggested he was passionate about music.

“Would you say that to Tom Petty?” asked Thornton.

Thornton eventually made it clear that he was angry with Ghomeshi for his introduction.

Ghomeshi began the show introducing the band by focusing on their music and prodigious output in less than two years. He did, though, introduce Thornton as an “Oscar-winning screenwriter, actor and director.”

“You were instructed not to talk about … like that,” said Thornton, using an expletive.

Ghomeshi, who’s also in the band Moxy Fruvous, replied that he was “just giving context.” The host said he was pleased to simply talk about music and pointed out Thornton’s band was getting attention partially because of the career he’s had.

The 53-year-old Thornton won an Academy Award for his screenplay to 1996’s “Sling Blade,” which he also starred in and directed. This year he stars in “Manure,” which played at the Sundance Film Festival, and “The Informers,” which comes out later this month.

A lifelong musician, he appeared sensitive to any suggestion that music was a mere “hobby.”

The interview, available to stream on http://www.cbc.ca/q/ and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/Qtv , was receiving hundreds of comments from listeners who almost uniformly lambasted Thornton.

After the interview, the band performed an instrumental tune without Thornton – who didn’t have his instrument. “I’m a drummer … We don’t cart those around at 6 o’clock in the morning,” Thornton said.

Speaking by phone later, Ghomeshi said: “To not answer questions because I made the apparently egregious mistake of calling him an actor as well as a musician, it just seemed a little absurd.”

He added: “It does raise questions about the expectations of parameters that people ostensibly think that they put on us as arts, culture and entertainment journalists.”

Thornton’s publicist, Arnold Robinson, said the actor had no comment on the appearance.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ Billy Bob Thornton’s son is at the center of a criminal investigation — the alleged victim of “unlawful sex.”

Here’s what we know. Willie Thornton, age 14, was dating a 22-year-old woman. Her ex-boyfriend apparently became jealous. Sources say the ex called the LAPD, informing them his former GF was having sex with a minor.

Law enforcement sources tell us there is an “active investigation” into the crime of “unlawful sex” — translated, an adult having sex with someone under 18. We’re told Willie is cooperating with the sex crimes unit. And, we’re told, cops have also interviewed Billy Bob.

BTW, the picture was taken four years ago.

Lisa Loeb and Billy Bob Thornton

Billy Bob Thornton, Lara Shriftman, Dwight Yoakham, Gail Zappa and Fred Durst

2007 VH1 Rock Honors

Ozzy Osbourne, honoree, and Jada Pinkett Smith

Sharon Oscourne and Kelly Osbourne

Billy Bob Thornton

Cameron Diaz