Barbieri Says She Dumped Simpson After His Acquittal

LOS ANGELES - Paula Barbieri says her romance with O.J. Simpson ended soon after his acquittal, when he seemed more interested in how much money he could get for photographs of them together.

"It was all of a sudden, `Well, they'll pay lots of money for pictures of you and I together,' " Barbieri told Diane Sawyer on ABC's "PrimeTime Live" yesterday. "And then the next thing I know he's coming, and he's got the photographer with him.

"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,' " she said of their reunion, "it was a realization for me that he was going to that lifestyle."

When Sawyer asked Barbieri if she still had a relationship with Simpson, her response was brief: "No, I don't. None of any kind."

Sawyer said the interview was unsolicited; Barbieri had called ABC.

The 28-year-old model and actress said she stayed celibate and waited for Simpson.

After he was acquitted, Barbieri said Simpson called her, expressing his love and "all the wonderful things." But she said she began to become disillusioned when she found out he had sold photographs of his homecoming celebration to a tabloid.

Barbieri said she never doubted Simpson's innocence, and she would have left him if he had ever hit her.

"I can't answer for Nicole, but I know for me if he ever laid a hand on me I would not be there in the morning. I tell you that with not a moment's hesitation. Because he's never hit me."