O.J. Simpson has died at age 76.
"On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer. He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren," the Simpson family shared in a statement on Thursday, April 11. "During this time of transition, his family asks that you please respect their wishes for privacy and grace."
On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer.
— O.J. Simpson (@TheRealOJ32) April 11, 2024
He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren.
During this time of transition, his family asks that you please respect their wishes for privacy and grace.
-The Simpson Family
Simpson rose to fame as a football phenom, first as a standout running back and Heisman winner at the University of Southern California, and then as a top draft pick for the Buffalo Bills where he became a five-time NFL All-Pro and 1973 NFL MVP. He's considered one of the greatest running backs of all time.
However, Simpson's sports legacy and incredibly positive 25-year celebrity status was shattered after the brutal 1994 murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. An estimated 95 million people watched the infamous white Bronco car chase happen on live TV and then tuned in to the televised "Trial of the Century" throughout 1995. Though Simpson was acquitted on all counts related to the double-homicide, public opinion remained starkly divided, and many believed he'd gotten away with the crime.
In the years that followed, Simpson's sizable fortune was depleted due to legal fees, loss of sponsorship and acting opportunities, and a $33.5 million civil trial (a 2022 filing by Ronald Goldman's family contended that, because of non-payment and interest fees, Simpson then owed $96 million). Simpson filed for bankruptcy to protect his assets, but most were eventually seized and auctioned off, including his 1968 Heisman Trophy for $255,500.
In 2007, Simpson was arrested again, this time on 12 felony charges including armed robbery and kidnapping, after breaking into a Las Vegas hotel room and stealing memorabilia he claimed was his own. He was convicted and sentenced to 33 years in prison.
In the lead-up to his arrest and conviction, Simpson gave a number of high-profile interviews and wrote a highly questionable book, If I Did It: Confessions of a Killer, which his publisher billed as a hypothetical confession. Simpson repeatedly claimed the book was just a money play, saying "this was an opportunity for my kids to get their financial legacy ... I made it clear that it's blood money."
Incredibly, another of those pre-prison money grabs included a rap video. In December 2008, he released a song called "Get Juiced," a play on his football nickname, The Juice. According to a Rolling Stone story at the time, the NSFW video was a promotional tool for Juiced, a Punk'd-esque prank show which saw him "acting like a used cars salesmen peddling his infamous white Ford Bronco (complete with autograph, bullet holes and "escapability") and pretending he's on the show Cheaters."
With lyrics like "Why do people wonder about my intentions / why do people ask me so many questions" and "Can't you see the only way I live my life is large / and I got the most games with 200-plus yards," Simpson was never going to add a Grammy to his collection, and the video feels a 3-and-a-half minute spoof on Playboy Mansion and mid-aughts hip-hop culture.
For nearly any other aging celebrity, this could have been a fun addendum to a long career in the spotlight. But from Simpson, it felt like another ill-advised and inappropriate play for attention.
