Nicole Brown Simpson's ex-boyfriend says O.J. Simpson's alleged abuse was an 'open secret' in Hollywood

Nicole Brown Simpson's ex-boyfriend has revealed he knew about OJ Simpson's abusive behaviour towards her years before her murder, claiming it was widely known throughout Hollywood at the time.

Joseph Perrulli dated Nicole in 1992 after meeting her through Kris Jenner, just as she'd separated from the football legend.

He says he was made aware of OJ's history of violence almost immediately.

"I had people in the [movie] industry telling me about, you know, informing me about his abuse, so I knew," Perrulli told Page Six in a recent interview.

According to Perrulli, OJ's fame and business commitments meant nobody felt able to intervene at the time.

"We were all powerless," he explained. "He was still a spokesperson for a very big company [Hertz], a rental car company, and he was still a sportscaster. So, you know, everybody was powerless, and it seemed like he could do what he wanted. And he did."

Perrulli, now 65, says Nicole herself had confided in him about the severity of the abuse, telling him she'd been beaten so badly by OJ that she'd feared for her life.

He's since written a book about their relationship, titled "The Forgotten Briefcase," and revealed that despite being deeply in love with Nicole, he ultimately ended things because of OJ's behaviour.

During their time together, Perrulli says he discovered OJ had been spying on him and Nicole at her Brentwood home, and had even followed the pair while they went jogging. (Photo by Gary Leonard/Corbis via Getty Images)

Why did Joseph Perrulli end his relationship with Nicole Brown Simpson?

During their time together, Perrulli says he discovered OJ had been spying on him and Nicole at her Brentwood home, and had even followed the pair while they went jogging.

The final straw, he says, came after a disturbing dream in which he and Nicole were killed in a car accident, driving off a cliff together. The next morning, he gathered up all the keepsakes from their relationship, hid them away in a briefcase, and distanced himself from her entirely.

The pair's final meeting came at a Jenner family holiday party around Christmas time in 1993, with OJ also in attendance.

"She wanted to be friends," Perrulli said. "It was very difficult to be friends with her when I was in love with her, trying to maintain a platonic relationship like that."

He says he assumed he'd see Nicole again and patch things up, but instead received devastating news just six months later.

"I got the phone call six months later that she'd been murdered," he said.

Their marriage was marked by repeated incidents of domestic violence, including a 1989 call to police in which Nicole said she believed OJ was going to kill her. (Photo by Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

What happened to Nicole Brown Simpson and OJ Simpson?

Nicole, 35, was murdered alongside her friend Ron Goldman outside her Los Angeles home in 1994. She'd married the "Naked Gun" star in 1985, and the pair shared two children, Sydney and Justin, before divorcing in 1992 and later reconciling.

Their marriage was marked by repeated incidents of domestic violence, including a 1989 call to police in which Nicole said she believed OJ was going to kill her. Officers found her hiding in bushes "badly beaten and half-naked," and OJ later pleaded no contest to spousal abuse.

OJ was found not guilty of murder in 1995, though a civil jury later found him liable for both deaths. He died in 2024 at the age of 76.

Perrulli said he never intended to write about their relationship until rediscovering the hidden briefcase in 2024, describing the experience of going through it as deeply emotional.

"I spent close to four hours on the stairs rediscovering this woman... realizing who she was," he said.

"All these little mementos. I'd say they humanized her. She was a victim."