Paul Simon’s Wife Edie Brickell Recalls Being Warned Not to Date Him in New Documentary: ‘He’s Arrogant’

Paul Simon found true love with his longtime wife Edie Brickell, but it came with a caveat.

In the first part of the new documentary In restless dreams: The music of Paul Simon – which premiered last Sunday – Brickell, 58, says she was told to stay away from Simon, 82, in the early days of their relationship.

“When I first started dating him, someone warned me, ‘Don’t date him, he’s arrogant,'” Brickell recalls. “And I said, ‘How do you know? You don’t know him. It’s from the media.’”

According to Brickell, the media’s misconceptions about the Simon & Garfunkel singer-songwriter go beyond his personality. “As for Art Garfunkel, they made it seem like Paul victimized him,” says Edie Brickell & New Bohemians frontwoman of the reaction to Simon & Garfunkel’s 1970 split. “As opposed to the truth that the guy left to pursue a different kind of career. Everyone looked at it like, ‘Oh, Paul went to do Paul,’ but that didn’t happen.”

Paul Simon and Edie Brickell in New York in March 2016.

Bruce Glikas/Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic

Paul Simon describes ‘broken’ friendship with Art Garfunkel in new documentary: ‘We had an uneven partnership’

During the first part In restless dreamsSimon describes what went wrong between him and Garfunkel, 82. From the beginning, Simon says, “We had an uneven partnership because I wrote all the songs and actually ran the sessions.”

Until Garfunkel was offered the chance to appear in the 1970 film catch-22, although, that things really started to fall apart between them. “Artie said, ‘Yeah, it’ll be like, I’ll do movies for six months, then I’ll come back, you’ll write the songs, and we’ll make an album,’ and I thought, “Yeah? Actually, no. That won’t happen. I’m not going to do it,” Simon recalls.

Ultimately, Simon explains, Garfunkel’s choice to leave and act in the film “was a recipe for Simon and Garfunkel breaking up.” He adds: “It was a good friendship. It was a real first friendship for someone who got it. For me, to turn into a person I hope I never see again — that’s a long way.”

Simon and Brickell were married on May 30, 1992 in Long Island, New York in a small, intimate ceremony. Simon was previously married twice, to Peggy Harper from 1969 to 1975 and to actress Carrie Fisher for six months from 1983 to 1984.

Since marrying more than 30 years ago, the couple have had three children together: Adrian Edward, born in December 1992, Lulu, born in April 1995, and Gabriel Elijah, born in May 1998. Simon also has a son, Harper — born in September 1972 — with his first wife.

From left: Adrian Simon, Lulu Simon and Gabriel Simon.

Lulu Simon Instagram

Lulu, who is a singer like her parents, told PEOPLE in 2019 about her experience growing up in a musical family. “We came up with songs while walking in Central Park or in the bathtub,” she said. “We would always just write music.”

Paul Simon’s life in photos

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More than three decades and three children later, Brickell continues to defend Simon’s character. “Paul has a way of looking at everyday life and making it poetic, not caricaturing to express himself,” she says in the first episode of the documentary. “But it also makes him vulnerable. I think that’s why he was sometimes misunderstood.”

The first part of In restless dreams: The music of Paul Simon is available to stream on MGM+. Premiere of the second part on Sunday, March 24.

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Source: HIS Education