Television March 01, 2016
Kris Jenner on Nicole Brown Simpson’s Murder: 'I Will Always Feel Horrible'
There has been renewed interest in the O.J. Simpson trial, thanks to the FX series “The People v. OJ Simpson: American Crime Story.”
In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, Kris Jenner reflected on her friendship with O.J.'s ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson, whose murder led to the infamous trial in which Jenner's ex-husband, Robert Kardashian, was one of O.J. Simpson's lawyers.
When Ellen asked about their friendship and Nicole keeping quiet about her troubles, Kris responded, "Me and some of her other close friends all were really surprised and shocked by that. We felt like we really failed her as a friend. You know, you go through this and you discover things about somebody and it was horrible.” Watch!
Kris revealed she felt guilty for not seeing all the warning signs before Nicole's murder. "Although she and I were supposed to have lunch the next day after she was murdered. She said she wanted to show me some things and talk about what was in her safe. And so now, unfortunately, it all makes sense that that's probably what she wanted to reveal to me that next day, which broke my heart because I will always feel horrible that I didn't pay enough attention.”
On how Jenner learned of Brown's murder, she shared, "Her mom called me. I had known O.J. since I was 17 years old. When I met Robert, I met O.J. So that was a very long time ago. He was like a big brother to me, and that morning I had been coming back from taking the kids to school and I was supposed to meet Nicole. I was going to change and go and meet her, and my assistant said, 'Judy's on the phone,' and I said, 'Tell her I'll call her right back… and she talked to Judy for a second and she said, 'You really need to take the call.' And I picked up the phone and she said Nicole's been shot. And I said, what? I said, okay I am on my way. Where do I need go? She said no, she didn't make it… that was the information that Judy had at that time. That was very early in the morning.”
Immediately after the murder, O.J. reached out to her. She told Ellen, "He called me a few times. And, you know, he wanted to talk and explain how he felt… every single day it was something different and very difficult, because my ex-husband was on one side I was kind of on the other. The kids were in the middle. It was trying to explain to the children, and O.J. had called. Everybody lost so much that night.”
Switching gears, Jenner also discussed her ex, Caitlyn, who is now open to dating men. Though she was confused by the news, Kris said, "But, you know, I think that I really want her to be happy and be really comfortable in all the things where she says she wasn't her true authentic self for most of her life and knew when she was 4 that she felt like that. So you don't want somebody to be miserable or in pain or anything like that. I think for me, just getting used to that... you know, I am human and I have my feelings and I try and it's baby steps. And it's the mourning of somebody that you feel you are never going to be with or see again.“
She added, "Well, I said to her when this first happened, 'You are so excited, you have to wait for the rest of us to catch up,' like we haven't had as many drinks as you, like when you are at a party and every else is smashed and you are like just getting started."
Check here for local listings for Jenner's full interview with Ellen, which airs today.