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

"They made it seem like Paul victimized him," Brickell says of the media's response to Simon and Art Garfunkel's split. "But that’s not what happened”

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

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 somebody 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.'”

In Brickell's view, the media's misconceptions about the Simon & Garfunkel singer-songwriter went beyond his personality. “In terms of Art Garfunkel, they made it seem like Paul victimized him,” the Edie Brickell & New Bohemians frontwoman says of the reaction to Simon & Garfunkel's 1970 split. “As opposed to the truth being that the guy walked away to pursue a different kind of career. Everybody looked at it as, ‘Oh, Paul went off to do Paul,’ but that’s not what happened.”

Related: Paul Simon Details 'Broken' Friendship with Art Garfunkel in New Documentary: 'We Had an Uneven Partnership'

During part one of In Restless Dreams, Simon details what went wrong between him and Garfunkel, 82. From the start, Simon says, "We had an uneven partnership because I was writing all of the songs and basically running the sessions."

It wasn't until Garfunkel was offered the opportunity to appear in the 1970 film Catch-22, though, that things between the pair really started to fall apart. "Artie said, ‘Yeah, the way it’s going to be is that I will do movies for six months, then I’ll come back, you’ll have written the songs, and we will do the album,’ and I thought, ‘Yeah? Actually, no. That’s not gonna happen. I am not gonna do that,’” Simon recalls.

Ultimately, Simon explains, Garfunkel's choice to leave and star in a movie "was a recipe for the breakup of Simon & Garfunkel.” He adds: “That was a good friendship. That was a real first friendship of somebody that got it. For me, to turn into a person that I hope I never see again — that’s a long way.”

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

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

Lulu, who is a singer like her parents, opened up to PEOPLE in 2019 about her experience growing up in a musical family. “We used to make up songs as we were walking through Central Park, or in the bath,” she said. “We would always just write music.”

Related: Paul Simon's Life in Photos

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Over three decades and three kids later, Brickell continues to defend Simon’s character. “Paul has a way of looking at everyday life and making it poetic, and he doesn’t put on a caricature in order to express himself,” she says in the first episode of the documentary. “But that also makes him vulnerable. I think it sometimes has made him misunderstood.”

Part one of In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon is available to stream on MGM+. Part two premieres on Sunday, March 24.

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