Relationship With Simpson Is Over, Barbieri Says

Paula Barbieri stayed celibate and waited for O.J. Simpson during his murder trial, but the relationship is now over, she said in an ABC television interview that aired Wednesday.

When Simpson called her from a cellular phone in his car on his way home after his Oct. 3 acquittals, she still had faith that they could be together, Barbieri told “PrimeTime Live.” But Simpson later suggested that they pose for pictures together and get paid for it, she said.

“Rather than a quiet, ‘Let’s get back to who you and I are, and let’s get to know each other again on a different level,’ . . . it was a realization for me that he was going to that lifestyle. He was going to live there in that lifestyle that he used to have,” said Barbieri, sitting curled up in a chair opposite Diane Sawyer.

Sawyer said the interview was unsolicited and that Barbieri had called ABC.

Rumors flew the weekend after the trial that Simpson and Barbieri were planning to marry in the Dominican Republic. But when Barbieri was asked if she still had a relationship with Simpson, her response was brief: “No, I don’t. None of any kind.”

Barbieri, 28, refused to say how she told Simpson their three-year relationship was over, explaining, “I think that’s really private.”