Getty Lorena Gallo attends the "Lorena" Premiere during the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.
Lorena Bobbitt, who cut off her husband’s penis in 1993 is the subject of the Lifetime movie I Was Lorena Bobbitt. She is in a relationship with David Bellinger, and they have one child together.
Bobbitt became a household name across the country in 1993 after she took a kitchen knife and cut off her then-husband John Bobbitt’s penis while he was sleeping. She then left in her car, driving to the nail salon where she worked and threw the appendage out the window on her way there.
Bobbitt has maintained that her ex-husband repeatedly abused her during their marriage and had raped her that night. John denied those accusations. Both parties have since been found not guilty, Lorena of malicious wounding and John with marital sex assault.
Here’s what you should know about Lorena Bobbitt’s family:
1. She Has a Daughter Named Olivia
Bobbitt and Bellinger have one daughter together. Her name is Olivia, and she is 15 years old.
Bobbitt had a hard time explaining to her daughter why she would get recognized in public when her daughter was just 7 years old. She told the New York Times that she didn’t go in-depth with what had happened at the time.
“I didn’t go into details. There was no anatomical . I just said, ‘Mommy got hurt,’ and I said, ‘I was married before with this man, and I cut him.'”
Bobbitt said that when the four-part documentary series about her premiered in 2019, her daughter and partner watched together. Afterward, her daughter told her, “‘Mom, I didn’t realize how strong you were,” Bobbitt told USA Today. “I melted. My heard just… She disarmed me completely.”
2. Her Long-Time Partner Is David Bellinger
Bobbitt and Bellinger have been in a relationship for over 20 years, and they were friends before they were ever officially in a relationship.
Bellinger told IOL that Bobbitt pursued the relationship first, and he was well aware of her past before they got into the relationship.
“She kept asking me out for years. I kept saying no,” Bellinger said. Bellinger reportedly responded by laughing and telling him, “Don’t flatter yourself.”
The couple is not married, but Bobbitt often refers to Bellinger as her husband.
3. She Was Accused of Domestic Assault Against Her Mother
After the legal trouble with her former husband, Bobbitt found herself in court again in 1998 when she was accused of domestic assault against her mother.
According to the Washington Post, the judge listened to two hours of conflicting testimony about a fight involving shoving, hair pulling and biting and then ruled that Bobbitt did not assault her mother.
“If you asked me if I think she’s guilty, I’d say yes,” Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judge James Robeson said of the defendant. “I have reasonable doubt, so I’ll find her not guilty.”
Bobbitt spoke after the trial, saying that she and her mother love each other very much and “To me, blood is thicker than water.”
4. Lorena Bobbitt Married John Bobbitt in 1989
Lorena and John got married in 1989, and she began having doubts about their relationship when they had been married for only a month, she told A&E, when she says John punched her in the chest.
“We were coming back from a dinner that had turned bad,” she said. “We were on the highway, and hew as moving the car left and right and scaring other drivers… I grabbed the steering wheel of the car and he didn’t like that… and punched me in the chest. That was the first of many incidents.”
She said she told him she wanted to leave the marriage in 1992, but he said he’d change, so she did not leave and the violence eventually escalated to the point where she cut off his penis.
5. The Family Resides In Virginia
After the trial, many people may have moved away from their previous town in order to get away from the publicity. Gallo did not do that, instead deciding to stay at home.
She told the New York Times that it doesn’t take long for people to make the connection between her and the case when she introduces herself to people in Manassas.
“I live here. This is my home. Why should he have the last laugh?” she said when asked about why she didn’t move away.
She continued, saying, “I know I am still Lorena Bobbitt. That name you know, it’s very important here.”
I Was Lorena Bobbitt premieres at 8 p.m. on Monday, May 25, 2020 on Lifetime.
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