OJ Simpson has died after a battle with cancer, his family confirmed Thursday. He was 76 years old.
A post on Simpson’s X account shared the news, saying he was surrounded by his children and grandchildren on April 10 when he died.
“During this time of transition, his family asks that you respect their wishes for privacy and grace,” the family wrote.
Simpson, a former NFL player, was best known for the famous 1990s court case seen around the world, when he was tried for the double murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman.
He was acquitted of the charges, but it became one of the most talked-about court cases of the last century, and its live, up-to-the-minute television coverage changed everything.
From the police chase of Simpson’s Bronco down the Los Angeles freeway to the now-infamous line, “If the glove doesn’t fit, you must acquit,” the court case transfixed the world.
On the day of the low-speed chase, Simpson was expected to turn himself in to police, but he never showed up.
Hours later, Simpson’s lawyer and friend, Robert Kardashian, read a letter from Simpson to the media. He said, “First, everyone understand. I had nothing to do with Nicole’s murder… I look back on my life and feel like I’ve done most of the right things. So why did it end like this? I can not continue”.
Breaking news from Canada and around the world delivered to your inbox, as it happens.
Many took the letter as a suicide note, and when a police officer approached the Bronco, Cowlings said Simpson was in the back seat with a gun to his head, causing police to back off but continue the chase at 56 kilometers per hour.
The world watched as OJ Simpson ran from the police.
Sam Mircovich/Reuters
The 50-mile chase ended at Simpson’s home, where he eventually surrendered to police.
Prosecutors argued that Simpson killed Nicole in a fit of jealousy and presented extensive blood, hair and fiber evidence linking Simpson to the murders. The defense responded that the accused celebrity was framed by racist white police officers.
The trial paralyzed the United States. At the White House, President Bill Clinton emerged from the Oval Office and watched the verdict on his secretary’s television. Many African Americans celebrated his acquittal and saw Simpson as a victim of intolerant policing. Many white Americans were shocked by his exoneration.
Her case sparked debates about race, gender, domestic abuse, celebrity justice and police misconduct.
In this Oct. 3, 1995, file photo, OJ Simpson, center, clenches his fists in victory after the jury said he was not guilty of the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman in a Los Angeles court. Attorneys F. Lee Bailey, left, and Robert Shapiro, right, look on.
Myung Chun / AP Photo / Los Angeles Daily News
A criminal court jury found him not guilty of murder in 1995, but a separate civil trial jury found him liable in 1997 for the deaths and ordered him to pay $33.5 million to relatives of Brown and Goldman.
A decade later, still overshadowed by California’s wrongful death ruling, Simpson led five men he barely knew into a confrontation with two sports memorabilia dealers in a cramped Las Vegas hotel room. Two men with Simpson had weapons. A jury convicted Simpson of armed robbery and other felonies.
Imprisoned at age 61, he served nine years in a remote northern Nevada prison, including a stint as a gym janitor. He was unrepentant when he was released on parole in October 2017. The parole board heard him insist once again that he was just trying to recover sports memorabilia and family heirlooms that were stolen from him after his criminal trial in Los Angeles. .
In May 2023, Simpson shared a video with And he added: “Looks like I’m over it.”
He did not reveal the type of cancer.
Then, earlier this year, a Las Vegas television station reported that Simpson was again undergoing cancer treatment.
Simpson responded that same day, denying rumors that he was in hospice care. He neither confirmed nor denied whether the cancer had returned.
Orenthal James Simpson was born in San Francisco on July 9, 1947. He contracted rickets at age 2 and was forced to wear leg braces until age 5, but recovered so completely that he became one of the world’s top football players. most famous of all time.
During nine seasons for the Buffalo Bills and two for the San Francisco 49ers, Simpson became one of the best ball carriers in NFL history. In 1973, he became the first NFL player to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season. He retired in 1979.
FILE – This 1977 file photo shows OJ Simpson during his time playing for the Buffalo Bills.
The Associated Press
Simpson also became an advertising host, best known for his years of television commercials for Hertz rental cars. As an actor, he appeared in films including The imposing hell (1974), Capricorn one (1977) and the The naked weapon Cop spoof films in 1988, 1991 and 1994, playing a dimwitted police detective.
Simpson married his first wife, Marguerite, in 1967 and they had three children, including one who drowned in the family pool at age 2 in 1979, the year the couple divorced.
Simpson met his future wife Brown when she was a 17-year-old waitress and he was still married to Marguerite. Simpson and Brown married in 1985 and had two children. She later called the police after incidents in which he hit her. Simpson pleaded no contest to charges of spousal abuse in 1989.
— with files from Global News, Reuters and The Associated Press
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
