Nicole Brown Simpson’s ex, Joseph Perrulli, broke his silence on how he ended their relationship because of OJ Simpson’s “unhinged” behavior.
During an interview with People published Tuesday to promote his new book, “The Forgotten Briefcase,” Perrulli recalled how Kris Jenner set him up with Nicole in 1992, shortly after she separated from the football player.
Perrulli said Caitlyn Jenner (then Bruce Jenner) told him at the time that Nicole was “wonderful” and a “great mother,” but “her only problem is OJ.”
Despite the warning, Perrulli became “extremely enchanted” with Nicole, and they started dating.
But after leaving Nicole’s Brentwood, California house one night, Perrulli “got this eerie feeling” when he smelled her perfume outside. A week later, a neighbor told Nicole she saw OJ — who wore the same perfume as her — hiding in the bushes that night.
Nicole confronted OJ, according to Perrulli, who said the NFL star claimed he “just happened to be driving by and wanted to make sure everything was okay.”
OJ also allegedly told Nicole, with whom he shared daughter Sydney and son Justin, he “didn’t have a problem” with Perrulli.
Ron Davis
However, Perrulli felt like “a man divided in two,” he said, adding, “One side of me was falling in love, and the other side was wondering if love was even possible with someone in a situation like hers.”
Perrulli said that during a dinner date with Nicole, she told him OJ beat her “really badly.”
“She was shaking. It happened so quickly, is how she said it,” Perrulli remembered. “She blacked out. When she came to, she felt she couldn’t talk about it because it would hurt the children. She thought she was going to die.”
Nicole also allegedly told Perrulli, “I’d rather die than go back to that man.”
Perrulli admitted he was “woefully unprepared” for how to respond because he “knew nothing about domestic violence.”
During a weekend trip to Laguna Beach with Nicole’s parents, Perrulli said someone warned him OJ was in town and attending the same family barbecue.
“I didn’t think I could live my life like this, feeling like this man’s lurking everywhere I go,” Perrulli explained. “As hard as it was, I left the next day and decided to end the relationship.”
Perrulli said, after the breakup, he dreamt that he and Nicole “were driving and flying off this cliff and died together in her car.”
Perrulli and Nicole, who tried to be friends after their split, didn’t see each other again until the Jenners’ Christmas Eve party in 1993, where Perrulli was shocked to see Nicole was back together with OJ.
According to Perrulli, OJ “was unhinged” and “sweating” when they spoke at the party.
“He placed his champagne flute down and stared at me, and said, ‘It’s only an illusion,’” Perrulli recalled. “He turned around and stormed out.”
In June 1994, Perrulli learned the tragic news that Nicole and her friend Ron Goldman were both murdered outside Nicole’s home — and he immediately assumed OJ killed them.
“I certainly felt Ron Goldman could have been me,” Perrulli shared. “Absolutely.”
Perrulli explained he “stayed away as much as I could” during OJ’s 1995 murder trial and “downplayed my love for Nicole” to prosecutor Marcia Clark after the tabloids discovered their relationship.
When OJ was acquitted, Perrulli said he watched the verdict and “remembered those chilling words: ‘It’s only an illusion.’”
OJ was later found liable for Nicole and Goldman’s deaths during a civil trial in 1997.
In 2008, he was convicted of armed robbery and kidnapping after leading five men into an armed confrontation with two sports memorabilia dealers in a Las Vegas hotel.
The football player served nine years in a Nevada prison before being released on parole in October 2017.
He died of prostate cancer in April 2024, at the age of 76.
Perrulli’s book “The Forgotten Briefcase” is out now.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or text START to 88788.
