What to Know
The name Lorena Bobbitt likely sparks a memory from the early 1990s for most adults. Even if they can’t picture who she is, it’s very likely they can tell you exactly what she did. On June 23, 1993, 24-year-old Lorena Bobbitt took a kitchen knife and cut off her then-husband, John Wayne Bobbitt’s, penis.
Following the very violent attack, she left the house and threw his manhood from her car window. Miraculously, police found the 26-year-old’s penis and doctors reattached it during a very delicate surgery.
Police arrested Lorena Bobbitt, who was ultimately acquitted by reason of temporary insanity. More than three decades later, she continues to fight for women who need help escaping domestic violence.
Lorena Bobbitt claimed she endured years of abuse.
In 2026, Lorena Bobbitt goes by Lorena Gallo and uses social media to help advocate for domestic violence survivors. During her January 1994 trial, she alleged that her husband physically and sexually abused her for years.
She said John Wayne Bobbitt terrorized his wife the night of the attack, and she snapped. Her attorneys argued she had a mental health breakdown and ultimately a jury agreed. They acquitted her on a charge of malicious wounding. Lorena Bobbitt spent 45 days in Central State Hospital in Petersburg, Virginia.
John Wayne Bobbitt denies ever raping his ex-wife.
John Wayne Bobbitt told ABC News he never sexually assaulted his wife and that she had a bit of a violent streak. The night of the attack, John Wayne Bobbitt said he’d gone out and had a lot to drink. According to him, his wife tried to seduce him.
“I remember her trying to play with me. You know? But I was sleeping,” he said. “I was exhausted, and I couldn’t respond to her advances either sexually or verbally.”
Lorena Bobbitt alleged he raped her, and afterward she went to the kitchen for water and found the knife.
“Everything was done in my sleep. The sexual advances, the talking… all in a deep sleep. No idea what happened,” he added.
John Wayne Bobbitt went on trial for sexual assault.
He was tried for marital sexual assault in November 1993. He denied ever raping Lorena Bobbitt, and a jury ultimately found him not guilty. Following both trials, he made the most of his 15 minutes of fame.
John Wayne Bobbitt went on a press tour, appeared on “The Howard Stern Show,” and made an adult film. The surgeons who reattached his penis told ABC News they watched the film and could confirm his penis worked just as it was supposed to.
Lorena Bobbitt turned the tragedy into advocacy.
According to People, Lorena and John Wayne Bobbitt’s story has been the subject of books, podcasts, and TV docuseries. In 2020, Lorena Bobbitt helped produce the Lifetime movie, I Was Lorena Bobbitt.
“People used to judge me before, saying that they don’t believe my story. To tell the story again is more than a blessing, to me it is an opportunity to tell it right,” Lorena told “Entertainment Tonight” at the movie’s premiere.
She created the Lorena Gallo Foundation to help domestic violence survivors and their children create a better life. The organization works to stay true to its mission.
“The Lorena Gallo Foundation’s mission is to expand awareness and prevention against domestic violence and sexual assault through education, emergency response resources, and community engagement activities that will improve outcomes for survivors and their children,” according to LGF.
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