O.J. Simpson, born Orenthal James Simpson, died at the age 76 after his battle with prostate cancer. The former NFL star had a tumultuous life that began when he was acquitted for the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. At the wake of the defamed athlete's death, Gloria Allred spoke on the behalf of the Brown Simpson family.
“Nicole was victimized by her husband, O.J. Simpson five years before he killed her in 1994 and left her almost
decapitated on the doorstep of her home,” Allred recalled the harrowing October 1995 night when Brown Simpson was found dead alongside Goldman in a live telecast.
“Even though he beat her, inflicted a black eye on her, and left her terrified hiding in the bushes, in 1989, he was never jailed by a judge for the spousal violence to which she was subjected and to which he pled no contest.
“Simpson's death reminds us that the legal system even 30 years later is still failing battered women and that the power of celebrity men to avoid true justice for the harm that they inflict on their wives or significant others is still a major obstacle to the right of women to be free of the gender violence to which they are still subjected.”
She continued: “I feel that the system failed Nicole Brown Simpson and failed battered women everywhere,” Allred said. “In the civil case which followed, he was found liable, responsible for her wrongful death. So it’s fair to call him a killer.
“In any event, I don’t mourn for O.J. Simpson. I do mourn for Nicole Brown Simpson and her family. They should be remembered. The system failed.”
While Simpson was acquitted of murder charges for the deaths of Brown Simpson and Goldman, the families filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the former athlete, where he was to pay $33.5 million in damages.
In 2008, he was sentenced to 33 years in prison for charges related to kidnapping and armed robbery over the former athlete's signed sports memorabilia. The incident happened a year prior to the sentencing in Las Vegas where Simpson and five other men stole the sports memorabilia from a casino. He was released in 2017 on parole.
Celebrities and fans react to O.J. Simpson's death
On Thursday, April 11, the Simpson family announced that the former NFL star had died. He was 76.
“On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer. He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren,” the announcement read on X (formerly known as Twitter). “During this time of transition, his family asks that you please respect their wishes for privacy and grace.
Since the former NFL star's life was filled with one of pop culture's biggest moment intersecting crime and celebrity, the reactions varied on the internet.
“Oj Simpson only good contribution to the world was giving us this funny reference in Shrek 2,” a fan wrote referencing the white Ford Bronco car chase he had in 1995 with LAPD which was mimicked in the animated film Shrek 2.
One of the more shocking comments surrounding the death of Simpson came from Caitlyn Jenner, who was friends with Nicole Brown Simpson.
“Good riddance,” Jenner wrote on X.
“The news of Ron’s killer passing away is a mixed bag of complicated emotions and reminds us that the journey through grief is not linear,” Kim and Fred Goldman offered in a statement Thursday. “For three decades, we tirelessly pursued justice for Ron and Nicole, and despite a civil judgment and his confession in ‘If I Did It,’ the hope for true accountability has ended.”
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