O.J. Simpson, Dead at 76 After Cancer Battle, Had Connections to RHOBH Circle
The former NFL player, who was tried for the 1994 murders Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman and rose to infamy in pop culture, has died after a battle with cancer.
O.J. Simpson, the former NFL player who later became infamous in the 1990's following the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman (for which he was tried and later acquitted), has died at the age of 76 after a battle with cancer.
The news of his passing was confirmed by a Simpson family spokesperson on Thursday, April 11.
O.J. Simpson dead at the age of 76 after a battle with cancer
"On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer," reads a statement posted to X (formerly Twitter) on April 11. "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."
E! News further added that reports that Simpson was battling cancer first surfaced earlier this year.
O.J. Simpson's career and legal issues, including 1995 murder trial
Simpson rose to fame during his professional football career in the late 1960s, most notably on the Buffalo Bills, and would later go on to star in films after his time in the NFL, including in movies like Naked Gun.
The retired football player would eventually make headlines for a different reason after he was accused in the wake of 1994 murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, as well as Ron Goldman. He was acquitted of both murders following the 1995 trial that was often called "the trial of the century" as the case gripped the nation and whose verdict has been considered controversial.
However, Simpson was later found civilly liable for the double homicide two years later. His legal issues didn't end there. He later spent nearly nine years in prison in Nevada in connection with a 2007 crime during which he robbed two sports memorabilia dealers at a Las Vegas hotel at gunpoint; he was paroled in 2017.
Amid his public legal issues, Simpson's life as a celebrity and his inner circle of famous friends also became the subject of tabloid chatter over the course of his life.
O.J. Simpson's connection to RHOBH explained
In the years since the trial, that time period has dominated the pop culture conversation. His friendships and connections to the likes of the Kardashians (Robert Kardashian was on his defense team at the 1995 murder trial) has also been headline-making news as well as the subject of much speculation.
The Simpson trial has been examined in great depth over the years, including on Andy Cohen's Then & Now, which aired on Bravo.
Simpson was also the subject of several notable references over the years on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills due to his connections to Faye Resnick (including the fact that she wrote the book, Nicole Brown Simpson: The Private Diary of a Life Interrupted) and Kathryn Edwards (whose first marriage was to Simpson's friend, Marcus Allen). Faye, Kris Jenner, and Kyle Richards are also all close friends.
Erika Jayne later revealed in her memoir, Pretty Mess, that when she married Tom Girardi in a small civil ceremony it included some major players from the legal world: Judge Paul Flynn, who presided over Snoop Dogg's 1995 murder trial, as well as Tom's good friend, Robert Baker, who defended Simpson in his civil trial.
O.J. Simpson's Children
Simpson is survived by his four living children: Arnelle and Jason, his children from his first marriage to Marguerite Whitley, as well as Sydney and Justin, his children from his marriage to Nicole Brown Simpson.
