Nicole Brown Simpson’s ex-partner has shared insights into the turbulent relationship that ultimately ended due to her former husband, O.J. Simpson. Joseph Perrulli, in his new book The Forgotten Briefcase, delves into their relationship, Nicole’s tragic death, and the 33 years he deliberately tried to forget.
“I rediscovered who this woman was,” the 65-year-old entrepreneur said in a recent interview. “She was far different than what had been portrayed — more spiritual and more down-to-earth — and I felt it was incumbent upon me to tell her story.”
Joseph explained that Kris Jenner introduced him to Nicole, and the pair fell in love shortly after she and O.J. divorced in 1992. Kris’ then-husband, Caitlyn Jenner, warned Joseph about O.J. just before a dinner date with both couples.
“She’s a wonderful girl, great mother,” Caitlyn said. “She’s not caught up in all the Beverly Hills stuff. Her only problem is O.J.”
As their new relationship blossomed, things began to get strange when it came to O.J., the author told People. Joseph claimed neighbors reported seeing O.J. hiding in the bushes outside of Nicole’s house.
“He said he just happened to be driving by and wanted to make sure everything was okay,” Joseph recalled. “He also said he really didn’t have a problem with me. He felt I was a gentleman.”
At one dinner date between Joseph and Nicole, she confessed that O.J. had beaten her “really badly” during their 17-year relationship.
“She was shaking. It happened so quickly, is how she said it. She blacked out. When she came to, she felt she couldn’t talk about it because it would hurt the children,” Joseph revealed. “She thought she was going to die.”
“She said, ‘I just prayed something like that would never happen again. But it did,’” he added. “Through tears, she said, ‘I’d rather die than go back to that man.’”
Throughout the several months that Joseph and Nicole were together, he recalled feeling like O.J. was always “lurking.” During a trip to Laguna Beach, Calif., with Nicole’s family, one family member calmly told Joseph that O.J. was in town and headed toward their barbecue.
“I didn’t think I could live my life like this, feeling like this man’s lurking everywhere I go,” Joseph said. “As hard as it was, I left the next day and decided to end the relationship.”
The same night, Joseph had a dream he and Nicole died in a car accident together after driving off a cliff. “When I woke up, I collected all the things we’d shared — the books, my journals, the letters — and I put it in my briefcase, and I hid it,” he shared. He didn’t open it again until 2024, inspiring his memoir.
Joseph saw Nicole, and O.J., a few more times before she died in June 1994. During the Jenners’ annual Christmas party in 1993, Joseph ran into O.J. at the bar. Panicked, he calmly greeted O.J., whom he described as “unhinged” and “sweating.”
“You look well,” Joseph told him. “He placed his champagne flute down and stared at me, and said, ‘It’s only an illusion,’” he added. “He turned around and stormed out.”
Joseph learned that Nicole had been killed outside of her home alongside Ron Goldman through a phone call from a friend. “I thought, ‘Oh, he did it. He killed her,’” he said. “I certainly felt Ron Goldman could have been me. Absolutely.”
O.J. pleaded not guilty to Nicole and Ron’s deaths, but was later found liable in 1997. He died of prostate cancer in 2024.
