Paula Barbieri broke up with O. J. Simpson the day his wife Nicole Simpson was murdered. She later reuinted with Simpson and visited him often in prison. In 1997, years after O. J.’s criminal trial, the former actress published a book about their time together, called The Other Woman: My Years With O.J. Simpson. However, she’s since faded from the public eye.
The day of the murders of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman, Barbieri left O.J. a 30 minute message breaking off their relationship. She then headed off to Vegas to hang out with Michael Bolton; but, when O. J. asked her to come back, she obliged. Later, in court, O. J.’s lawyers claimed he never listened to the breakup message. Barbieri was shocked by this denial, but decided to continue her relationship with O.J. at the time because she said she felt he needed her. She later had doubts about her devotion to O. J.; as she put it, “I listened to my heart, not my head.” Barbeiri’s book focused on her conversion to born-again Christianity, and argued that she clung to O. J. because she was yearning for God in her life.
In 1997, Larry King asked Barbieri if O. J. was a father figure for her. “A lot of people would say, ‘Oh great, she’s found God,’ but I don’t want to sound like I’m thumping on a Bible,” she replied. “I think what I did, rather than replace O.J. for my father, I replaced him for God. I was looking to (O.J.) for happiness and the only place you can find that is deeply in prayer and in the Bible.” She went on to say that the Bible contains the answer for every issue we face in life.”
The now 49-year-old Barbieri is married to a judge and has a 12-year-old daughter. They live in an exclusive Panama City, Florida gated community. She hasn’t spoken about her involvement with Simpson since her 1997 book.
