Las Vegas: O.J. Simpson, the celebrated football icon and Hollywood personality who was famously acquitted of charges related to the murder of his former wife and her friend, but later found liable in a civil trial, has passed away at the age of 76.
Simpson’s family announced his passing via his official X account, revealing that he succumbed to prostate cancer on Wednesday. His attorney confirmed to TMZ that Simpson breathed his last in Las Vegas.
Also Read: From football-star to trial of the century, 10 things to know about OJ Simpson
While Simpson achieved immense fame, wealth, and admiration through his achievements in football and entertainment, his reputation was forever altered by the tragic events of June 1994, when his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman were fatally stabbed in Los Angeles.
The televised spectacle of his arrest following a widely publicized slow-speed chase marked a dramatic downfall from his former glory.
He often quipped to friends, “I’m not Black, I’m O.J.”
The nation was captivated by his televised “trial of the century,” igniting discussions on race, gender, domestic violence, celebrity privilege, and police behavior.
While acquitted of murder by a criminal court jury in 1995, a subsequent civil trial jury in 1997 found him responsible for the deaths and ordered him to pay $33.5 million to the families of Brown and Goldman.
A decade later, still overshadowed by the California wrongful death verdict, Simpson orchestrated a confrontation with two sports memorabilia dealers in a cramped Las Vegas hotel room, accompanied by five men he barely knew, two of whom were armed. Convicted of armed robbery and related felonies, he spent nine years in a remote Nevada prison, serving as a gym janitor. Upon his release on parole in October 2017, he maintained his innocence, asserting that he sought to reclaim stolen sports memorabilia and family possessions taken after his Los Angeles trial.
Simpson, whose parole concluded in late 2021, remarked, “I’ve essentially led a life without conflict.”
Public intrigue surrounding Simpson endured. Debates persisted over whether his Las Vegas conviction was retribution for his acquittal in Los Angeles. In 2016, he was the focal point of an FX miniseries and a five-part ESPN documentary.
In 1995, a week after a jury acquitted him of killing Brown and Goldman, Simpson remarked to The New York Times, “I don’t think most of America believes I did it. I’ve received thousands of supportive letters and telegrams.”
Twelve years later, amid widespread public outcry, Rupert Murdoch scrapped plans for a book by HarperCollins, a News Corp. subsidiary, where Simpson was to offer a hypothetical narrative of the murders. Titled “If I Did It,” the book faced cancellation.
The Goldman family, persistent in their pursuit of the wrongful death judgment, gained control of the manuscript. They renamed it “If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer.”
“It’s all blood money, and unfortunately, I had to join the jackals,” Simpson told The Associated Press at the time. He received $880,000 in advance payment for the book, facilitated through a third party.
“It helped me get out of debt and secure my homestead,” he added.
Shortly after forfeiting the book rights, Simpson faced arrest in Las Vegas.
David Cook, an attorney striving to enforce the civil judgment in the Ron Goldman case since 2008, shared that he spoke with Fred Goldman, Ron’s father, about Simpson’s passing. Cook refrained from divulging Fred Goldman’s remarks or whereabouts.
“He died without penance,” Cook remarked about Simpson. “We don’t know what he has, where it is, or who controls it. We will persist with our pursuit.”
Simpson enjoyed an illustrious 11-season NFL career, primarily with the Buffalo Bills, earning the moniker “The Juice” on the team’s famed offensive line dubbed “The Electric Company.” With four NFL rushing titles, 11,236 career rushing yards, 76 touchdowns, and five Pro Bowl appearances, Simpson’s legacy endured. His pinnacle season in 1973 saw him become the first running back to surpass 2,000 rushing yards in a single season.
Years later, reflecting on that season, he remarked, “I was part of the history of the game. If I did nothing else in my life, I’d made my mark.”
Undoubtedly, Simpson’s life journey continued to unfold with other notable milestones.
Among the artifacts associated with his murder trial, the meticulously crafted tan suit he wore during his acquittal found its way to the Newseum in Washington, D.C., where it was put on public display. Despite being informed that the suit would be in his Las Vegas hotel room, Simpson discovered upon arrival that it was not present.
OJ Simpson Early Life
Orenthal James Simpson was born July 9, 1947, in San Francisco, where he grew up in government-subsidized housing projects.
Upon high school graduation, he pursued studies at City College of San Francisco for a year and a half before transitioning to the University of Southern California in the spring of 1967.
Also Read: From football-star to trial of the century, 10 things to know about OJ Simpson
He tied the knot with his first wife, Marguerite Whitley, on June 24, 1967, relocating her to Los Angeles the following day to commence his preparations for USC’s football season—a season that culminated in a national championship, largely attributable to Simpson’s prowess.
In 1968, Simpson clinched the prestigious Heisman Trophy. Remarkably, he received this accolade on the same day his first child, Arnelle, came into the world.
From his first marriage, Simpson had two sons, Jason and Aaren. Tragically, Aaren passed away as a toddler in a swimming pool accident in 1979, coinciding with Simpson and Whitley’s divorce that same year.
Simpson entered matrimony with Brown in 1985. Together, they bore two children, Justin and Sydney, before parting ways in 1992. Two years following their divorce, Nicole Brown Simpson fell victim to a fatal attack.
Reflecting on the past, he shared with the AP 25 years after the tragic events, “We don’t need to go back and relive the worst day of our lives. The subject of the moment is the subject I will never revisit again. My family and I have moved on to what we call the ‘no negative zone.’ We focus on the positives.”