Former American football superstar OJ Simpson, whose 1995 double murder trial captivated America before his acquittal, has died of cancer at the age of 76, his family announced Thursday.
“On April 10, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, died following his battle with cancer. He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren,” wrote on X the family of the man who was considered one of the first great black stars in the United States.
Former star running back in the NFL, converted to cinema, OJ Simpson was found not guilty of the murder in 1995 of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman, a friend of hers, in Los Angeles during the ” trial of the century,” overhyped and extremely racially charged.
OJ Simpson was then defended by, among others, a “dream team” of lawyers, including Robert Kardashian, father of reality TV star Kim Kardashian. The debates captivated the country and the verdict exonerating OJ Simpson continues to arouse controversy, almost 30 years later.
The year before, a chase broadcast live between dozens of police cars and OJ Simpson had also fascinated the United States.
Ron Goldman’s father, Fred Goldman, responded by telephone to NBC News, saying that OJ Simpson’s death was “not a big loss.”
“It’s another reminder of Ron’s death,” he said.
Caitlyn Jenner, who was married to Kris Jenner, ex-wife of lawyer Robert Kardashian, was quick to add.
“Good riddance,” said the woman who was an Olympic decathlon champion before her gender transition to X.
The organization behind the Heisman Trophy, awarded to the best American college football player of the year, said it “deplores the death” of the man who won this prestigious award in 1968.
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OJ Simpson was later found responsible for the deaths of the two victims during a civil trial in 1997 and ordered to pay damages of more than $33 million to their families, something he will never do.
In 2007, he was talked about again in the legal column, arrested in Las Vegas for having stolen sports souvenirs with five henchmen from a hotel-casino in the city, at gunpoint.
In early October 2008, he was convicted of 12 counts and then sentenced to 9 to 33 years in prison. He had been on parole since 2017.
After his career as an American footballer, and before his first legal problems, OJ Simpson appeared in around ten films and series, including “Is There a Cop to Save the Queen?” » in 1988.
An eight-hour documentary titled OJ: Made in America, recounting his 1995 trial, won the 2017 Oscar for best documentary.
The same trial is also brought to the screen in a miniseries, American Crime Story: The OJ Simpson Trial Like You’ve Never Seen It, which won several Emmy Awards in 2016.
In February, OJ Simpson declared on his X account that his health was “good” despite “obviously some problems”.
“I think it will be behind me soon and I hope to be back on a golf course in a fortnight,” he said at the time.
In another video also published at the beginning of February, the ex-star denied rumors that he was in palliative care.
“No, I’m not in palliative care,” he proclaims with a smile on his face, behind the wheel of a car.
“I don’t know who started” this rumor, “but I imagine it’s like Donald says [Trump] : we cannot trust the media,” he then adds.
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2024-04-11 17:48:45
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