Nicole Brown Simpson’s Ex Lover Says She ‘Thought She Was Going to Die’ at Hands of ‘Unhinged’ O.J.

More than 32 years after Nicole Brown Simpson was murdered, her former lover Joseph Perrulli is opening up about their relationship — and his uncomfortable encounters with O.J. Simpson.

On June 12, 1994, O.J.’s ex-wife, 35, and her friend Ron Goldman, 25, were murdered at Nicole’s Brentwood home. The former football player, who died in April 2024 at age 76, was charged with and acquitted of Nicole and Ron’s murders. He was later found liable for the deaths in a civil suit from the victims’ families.

In an interview with People published on Tuesday, June 16, Perrulli recalled meeting Nicole and then-husband O.J. through mutual friend Kris Jenner in 1989.

Nicole and Perrulli reconnected in 1992, when the Kardashians matriarch told him that she and O.J. had separated — and invited him to join her, then-husband Caitlyn Jenner (formerly Bruce) and Nicole for dinner.

During a bike ride with Caitlyn before the double date, the former Olympian warned Perrulli, “She’s a wonderful girl, great mother. She’s not caught up in all the Beverly Hills stuff. Her only problem is O.J.”

Perrulli described his relationship with Nicole to People, explaining that he felt The Juice was always “lurking” in the background.

He and O.J. crossed paths on the set of a Hertz rental car commercial, explaining, “I remember thinking he’s so charismatic. It’s hard to imagine that what I was sensing and these rumors of abuse going around were true.”

However, Nicole — who shares children Sydney, now 40, and Justin, now 37, with O.J. — eventually confided in Perrulli, telling him over dinner that her ex beat her “really badly.”

“She blacked out,” Perrulli recalled. “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. She said, ‘I just prayed something like that would never happen again. But it did.’ Through tears, she said, ‘I’d rather die than go back to that man.'”

According to People, Perrulli went on a weekend trip to Laguna Beach for a family barbecue with Nicole’s parents, but someone alerted him that O.J. was on his way.

“I didn’t think I could live my life like this, feeling like this man’s lurking everywhere I go,” said Perrulli. “As hard as it was, I left the next day and decided to end the relationship.”

After their split, Perrulli didn’t see Nicole again until Jenner’s Christmas Eve party in 1993. He heard rumors that Nicole and O.J. were back together, and The Juice was in attendance.

“I said [to him], ‘You’re looking well.’ That couldn’t have been further from the truth,” Perrulli recalled. “He was unhinged. He’s sweating. He placed his champagne flute down and stared at me, and said, ‘It’s only an illusion.’ He turned around and stormed out.”

After Perrulli learned that Nicole was murdered, he thought, “Oh he did it. He killed her.”

“I certainly felt Ron Goldman could have been me,” he said, adding that when he watched the verdict of O.J. being acquitted, “I remembered those chilling words: ‘It’s only an illusion.'”