“Full House” actress Andrea Barber awoke from surgery during O.J. Simpson’s Bronco chase: ‘What is happening right now?’

Kathleen PerriconeTue, April 7, 2026 at 11:59 PM UTC

0

Andrea Barber in 2023; O.J. Simpson's white Bronco (driven by his friend Al Cowlings)Credit: Jesse Grant/Getty; Peter Read Miller /Sports Illustrated via Getty

On June 17, 1994, an estimated 95 million Americans watched the police chase O.J. Simpson's white Bronco on live TV — including a very groggy Andrea Barber.

That day, the Full House actress had to undergo a medical procedure to remove two painful kidney stones. And just as she was coming out of anesthesia "the Bronco chase was happening," she recalled to co-star Jodie Sweetin on the latest episode of their rewatch podcast How Rude, Tanneritos.

"And so my parents, you know, had it on the radio," said Barber, who was 17 at the time. "People were watching it in the hospital, and so I just was like, 'what did I wake up to? Like, what is happening right now that O.J. Simpson's being chased down the freeway by cops?' That was a fever dream."

Even now, three decades later, any time someone mentions the infamous 1994 event, "I think of my kidneys," Barber joked.

Others might think of the Kardashians.

The Bronco chase ended after two hours when Simpson surrendered to police and was subsequently charged with the fatal stabbings of his his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman. For the criminal trial, he hired a legal "dream team" that included prominent defense attorney Robert Kardashian — whose ex-wife, Kris Jenner, coincidentally, had been good friends with Brown Simpson.

Advertisement

California Highway Patrol chasing O.J. Simpson's Bronco on the 91 freeway in Los AngelesCredit: Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty

Kim Kardashian recalled the night "Uncle O.J." called the family home from jail, looking to speak to Jenner.

"I answered the phone," Kim recounted to David Letterman in 2020. "And I just remember them getting into it. So, you know, my mom was extremely vocal on her feelings… she believed that, you know, her friend was murdered by him. And that was really traumatizing for her."

During the "trial of the century," Jenner sat with the Brown family as her ex-husband defended the accused murderer, who was ultimately acquitted.

"So, we didn't really know what to believe or whose side to take as kids," confessed Kim, who was 13 at the time. "It kind of tore our family apart."

Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.

Her father died from esophageal cancer in 2003, four years before the family found even greater fame on their E! reality show, Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

on Entertainment Weekly

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”