Explained: A murder trial, dramatic car chase, a heist and more! The scandalous legacy of OJ Simpson
On June 12, 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson, who was married to OJ Simpson from 1985 to 1992, was found stabbed to death outside her Los Angeles home. Alongside Simpson's ex-wife was her friend, waiter Ron Goldman, who also murdered in the attack. Photograph:( WION Web Team )
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OJ Simpson, an American football star turned actor, has left behind a controversial legacy, that boasts of a gruesome murder, police chase and "the trial of the century". Let's have a look at who OJ Simpson was, and the biggest scandals surrounding him
OJ Simpson, an American football star turned actor, has left behind a controversial legacy, that boasts of a gruesome murder, police chase and "the trial of the century". Let's have a look at who OJ Simpson was, and the biggest scandals surrounding him
OJ "The Juice" Simpson, one of the best and most popular athletes of the late 1960s and 1970s, on Wednesday (Apr 10) succumbed to prostate cancer.
Simpson, an American football star turned actor, has left behind a controversial legacy, that boasts of a gruesome murder, police chase and "the trial of the century". Let's have a look at who OJ Simpson was, and the biggest scandals surrounding him.
Who was OJ Simpson?
Born July 9, 1947, Orenthal James Simpson, aka OJ Simpson, entered the limelight for his football skills. Arguably one of the greatest running backs of all time, he played in the coveted National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons, primarily with the team Buffalo Bills.
Also read | OJ Simpson dies of cancer at the age of 76
OJ Simpson boasts a career speckled with achievements, like the NFL Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, the record for the single-season yards-per-game average at 143.1 and more.
The pro-athlete retired from football in 1979 and started a career in acting and broadcasting.
Double murder trial
On June 12, 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson, who was married to OJ Simpson from 1985 to 1992, was found stabbed to death outside her Los Angeles home. Alongside Simpson's ex-wife was her friend, waiter Ron Goldman, who was also murdered in the attack.
The former football star was charged the same month for the two murders. A highly publicised trial ensued.
It captured America's attention. The trial had everything: a rich celebrity defendant; a Black man accused of killing his white former wife out of jealousy; a woman slain after divorcing a man who had beaten her; and a "dream team" of pricy and charismatic defence lawyers.
Prosecutors argued that OJ killed his ex-wife in a jealous fury and presented as evidence blood, hair, and fibre tests linking him to the murders. Nevertheless, Simpson, who had already declared himself "absolutely 100 per cent not guilty," was acquitted of the charges on Oct 3, 1995, by a predominately black panel of 10 women and two men.
As per Reuters, the Goldman and Brown families subsequently pursued a wrongful death lawsuit against Simpson in civil court. In 1997, a predominately white jury in Santa Monica, California, found OJ Simpson liable for the two deaths and ordered him to pay $33.5 million in damages.
Watch | Former NFL star OJ Simpson dies at 76 due to cancer
A heist and a kidnapping
Although the mega-star escaped prison during the murder trial of his ex-wife and her friend, jail time still awaited him. On October 3, 2008, he was sentenced to up to 33 years in prison for a slew of charges, including kidnapping and armed robbery.
The sentence was for an armed robbery OJ Simpson, along with five other men, armed with at least two guns, carried out in 2007 at a casino hotel in Las Vegas. The group stole sports memorabilia worth thousands of dollars from two dealers.
Simpson, at the trial, said he was only trying to recover his own property and claimed, "I didn't want to hurt anybody."
"I didn't know I was doing anything wrong," he added.
In 2017, he was released on parole and moved into a gated community in Las Vegas. Subsequently, in 2024, owing to 'good behaviour', he was granted early release from parole at age 74.
The OJ Prank Show
In 2006, in the era of pay-per-view and special-edition DVDs, OJ Simpson had a Punked-esque hidden-camera prank show called, 'Juiced.' Infiltrating a business, at times in disguise, the former footballer would provoke customers until they snapped for the punchline - "You've been juiced".
Also read | 'Sexual harassment leaves a mark' on humans and statues; German NGO's unique awareness campaign
Allegedly, in one sketch, Simpson, as per the New York Post, allegedly visited a used-car lot to sell a white Ford Bronco — the car model he used to try to flee police in a dramatic slow-speed chase after the 1994 murder of his ex-wife Nicole.
In the sketch, he controversially joked, "It helped me get away".
'If I Did It': A murder confession?
In September 2007, OJ Simpson, along with ghostwriter Pablo Fenjves wrote a book titled, "OJ Simpson: If I Did It, Here’s How It Happened."
The duo put forward a hypothetical narrative of how the Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman's murders were carried out.
In the controversial novel, there's a chapter titled "The Night in Question" in which Simpson talks about being at Nicole's house the night of the murder with a friend "Charlie". He goes on to describe blacking out and coming to his senses with Nicole and Ron in "giant pools of blood".
Poking fun at tragedies: The 9/11 joke
In 2017, after being released on parole, Simpson made controversy with an awkward joke poking fun at the 9/11 tragedy.
While on the "It Is What It Is" podcast, he was discussing Aaron Rodgers’ season-ending Achilles tendon injury on the anniversary of the terrorist attack and said: "The Jets are still going to be good, and that kid [Zach Wilson] learned a lot from Aaron. Unfortunately, 9/11 is just a bad date for New York".
(With inputs from agencies)
