What Lorena And John Wayne Bobbitt Are Up To Today

John Wayne Bobbitt and Lorena Bobbitt were a primetime news sensation and late night joke writers' dream in June 1993 when Lorena cut off John's penis with a kitchen knife, then threw it in a field.

Lorena was charged with malicious wounding, and faced up to 20 years behind bars. She was acquitted in January 1994, with a jury finding her "temporarily insane" at the time of the incident, according to The New York Times. During her trial, Lorena alleged that she lived in fear of her husband and claimed that he abused her for years. She also accused him of sexually assaulting her before she cut off his masculine appendage. While John denied abusing and raping Lorena, the prosecution's own expert team concluded that he likely was guilty of those offenses, though he was cleared of the charges (which reportedly only extended to his behavior within the five days leading up to the incident). 

In addition to the incident itself, the story of the Bobbitts shed light on several other broader issues within the American consciousness, including the plight of immigrants (Lorena was from Ecuador and spoke of seeking her "American dream" after the trial) and those of battered women.

After the trial, Lorena led a relatively quiet life, while John pursued fame from infamy. Now, 25 years later, the cursed couple is back in the public consciousness. Here's what they've been up to since that fateful 1993 night.

Luckily for John Wayne Bobbitt, medicine was advanced enough in 1993 after Lorena's infamous attack on him that surgeons were able to re-attach his penis to his body (Fun Fact: According to Rolling Stone, the severed appendage, which was recovered in a "field across from a 7-Eleven," was transported to the hospital "on ice in a Big Bite hot-dog box.") But the miraculous salvation of what the good lord gave him wasn't good enough for Bobbitt, however, and he later got surgery to enlarge his member, part of which was funded by Howard Stern Show listeners.

Then he got the enhancement reversed. "You know, it was just too big," Bobbitt told The Daily Mail in 2018, before graphically describing his previous size. "It was good for the movies, but girlfriends always complained about it. Quite often they would deny sexual activity," he lamented. "I haven't been able to make love properly for over 20 years, but now I can."

He added, "But now I am fully functional — and [the reversal surgery] was so easy, I didn't even have to stay in hospital overnight." 

John Wayne Bobbitt released his first pornographic film, John Wayne Bobbitt Uncut, in November 1994. He released another skin flick, Frankenpenis — named after his member's nickname from porn star Ron Jeremy, Rolling Stone reported — in 1996, after he'd undergone his penis enlargement surgery. He's proud of his work, even though Dennis Hof alleged to Vanity Fair that he'd heard it looked like a "dented Red Bull can." On and off camera, however, Bobbitt is more than pleased with his intimate life since that fateful night.

"The doctors told me I would never be able to have sex again because my injuries were so bad," he told The Sun. "But I've proved them wrong time and time again. I believe I've slept with 70 women since the incident." He added that his grievous groin injury "does have its advantages. It definitely has not hurt my love life — in fact it improved it."

ABC News reported that after Frankenpenis, Bobbitt was "tricked" into one last pornographic movie in 1999 when his former manager, Robert Yates, reportedly rigged a hotel room with cameras. Bobbitt later told The Daily Mail that his adult film career was a form of revenge against Lorena. "It was temporary, a novelty, more of a retaliation," he said. "My wife hurt me and tried to ruin my life, so it was my way of saying it was just a scratch, no big deal."

When his porn career fizzled, John Wayne Bobbitt had a few options, and he blew all of them, ABC News reported. Dennis Hof, owner of the infamous Bunny Ranch brothel, hired Bobbitt to be a greeter, bartender and handyman at the property for $50,000 a year, then fired him.

"I tried pretty hard to help that guy out, but he really is a stupid, low-life creep," Hof said, adding, "We had an agreement: He wasn't supposed to drink, leave town, or sleep with my girls — and he did all three ... He is a nice, pleasant person — with absolutely no brain. Even with everything he's gone through, he's still a boring oaf."

Bobbitt then tried his hand at being part of a knife-throwing attraction in the Jim Rose Circus, and that didn't work out, either. Founder Jim Rose told ABC News, "All Bobbitt had to do was stand still, really, and he couldn't do that."

Bobbitt made some money with paid appearances, but those reportedly dried up, and his attempt at a stand-up comedy career reportedly bombed as well.

In 2014, TMZ reported that John Wayne Bobbitt broke his neck and suffered a slipped disk in a car accident. (Of course, the tab was also sure to speculate that he thankfully hadn't re-injured himself in that way.) That collision was reportedly not Bobbitt's fault, as another vehicle allegedly "ran a red light and T-boned his Jeep." Amazingly, he was expected to recover just fine, but his finances were a different story. The Sun reported in summer 2018 that while Bobbitt had "money in the bank" at the time that he lives primarily on "disability benefits" he's been receiving since the accident.

The Daily Mail reported that Bobbitt also suffers from osteomyelitis, a bone infection that the Mayo Clinic notes can cause pain, fatigue, fever and swelling in affected areas and requires him to undergo painful skin grafts. He told the tab that he believes he contracted the disease in 1987 when he was serving as a Marine in North Carolina at Camp Lejeune, where the water supply reportedly had been contaminated.

While John Wayne Bobbitt went out of his way to stay in the limelight for the better part of two decades, Lorena has led a decidedly much quieter life. She goes by Lorena Gallo (her maiden name) now and is married to a "gentleman," she revealed on The Steve Harvey Show (via TooFab). On the comparatively rare occasions that Lorena does media appearances, she prefers to focus on her activism rather than her acquittal, and speaks about her Lorena's Red Wagon program and Lorena Gallo Foundation, which works with abused women and children.

"What I do is I go to the shelters and talk to the coordinators and ask what the women and children need in each shelter, so I can provide for them," she told Steve Harvey in 2015. "When a victim leaves the house, they don't have time to pack. They just have the first opportunity to leave. ... If any child in the shelter has a birthday, we bring cakes, and we have a birthday party. I mean, simple things like that put a smile on their faces. I wanted to bring hope to these children, women [victims] of domestic abuse."

She also said that John has tried reaching out to her several times, but that she "always deleted his number."

Whether or not John Wayne Bobbitt was abusive to Lorena, he's got a checkered criminal history, especially around women.

In May 1994, just months after his and Lorena's own acquittals, The Washington Post reported that Bobbitt was arrested for allegedly bruising then-fiancee Kristina Elliott's arm and shoving her "into a wall" in their apartment. In early September 1994, The New York Times reported that Bobbitt served 15 days in prison for allegedly striking Elliott in another altercation. The Associated Press reported later that month that Bobbitt was sentenced to 30 days behind bars for the second offense against Elliot. Bobbitt's sentencing judge called him a "bully," and also said, "I don't know how we're going to get this across to you that this is unacceptable behavior." Bobbitt denied battering Elliott.

Bobbitt was charged with attempted grand larceny in 1999, The Las Vegas Sun reported, after he and several others allegedly tried stealing $140,000 worth of clothing from a store. He was sentenced to five years probation.

In 2002, CNN reported that Bobbitt was again arrested for domestic battery after allegedly pushing his third wife, Joanna Ferrell, to the ground, causing "a broken tailbone and finger." In 2006, Bobbitt acknowledged his history of domestic drama when he was acquitted of yet another domestic battery charge related to Ferrell.

"I've always had a problem with judgment, particularly when it comes to women," Bobbitt told the court.

While John Wayne Bobbitt has a troubling rap sheet, Lorena has one too, albeit a much shorter one. She was charged with assault and battery in December 1997, The Washington Post reported, after an alleged physical altercation with her mother that including "shoving, hair-pulling and biting." Her mother reportedly went to a neighbor's home after the incident with a "scratched and puffy" face, claiming claimed her daughter "had repeatedly punched her." 

Lorena could have faced up to a year behind bars for the offense, but was cleared of any charges after her mother, who initially said she and Lorena fought, told the court that her facial injuries were, essentially, from a giant zit. The judge in the case said of his ruling, "If you asked me if I think she's guilty, I'd say yes, [but] I have reasonable doubt, so I'll find her not guilty."

Lorena, who lived with her parents at the time, told the court, "My mother and I love each other very much. To me, blood is thicker than water." To the best of our knowledge, other than her infamous hack-job, it was the only time Lorena has been in any trouble with the law, as of this writing.

John Wayne Bobbitt appeared in a spread for The Daily Mail sporting a "Trump 2020" hat and rocks Trump-supporting license plates on his vehicles. He said of his MAGA merchandise, "I get a lot of negative comments about them, but hell, I love that guy." Meanwhile, Lorena supported Hillary Clinton in 2016 presidential election, according to Vanity Fair, and has become a symbol of the #MeToo movement. Her allegations that Bobbitt sexually assaulted and abused her make her potentially a more sympathetic character than ever, which led to the docuseries from Jordan Peele called Lorena.

Journalist Allison Yarrow told NBC News of Lorena, "Lorena Bobbitt was part of a group of women — everyone from Hillary Clinton and Monica Lewinsky to Tonya Harding — who were shamed in the 1990s, women who were what I call 'b***hified' — undermined, objectified, and thwarted by a sexist media narrative. The abuse of Lorena Bobbitt was ignored in favor of a narrative that celebrated male sexuality and shamed her for being a vengeful perpetrator, instead of shining a light on domestic violence and abuse."

Lorena herself said in a press release for the series (via NBC News), "On the 25th anniversary of this incident, and as awareness continues to increase surrounding violence against women, I look forward to the opportunity to tell aspects of my story that haven't yet been told, and that I hope will give some measure of support to other victims of this horrible epidemic."