OJ Simpson dies aged 76

[EnterpriseSovereign]

OJ Simpson dies aged 76

OJ Simpson has died of cancer at the age of 76.

Simpson was a running back for the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers from 1969 to 1979, before being acquitted of murder in a trial in the mid-1990s.

News of Simpson’s death was announced by his children on his X account.

“On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer,” read a statement.

“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 became one of the most notorious figures in American history when he was charged with the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman in 1994.
His trial was televised around the country and, although he was acquitted, he was later found liable for their deaths in a civil lawsuit and was ordered to pay £26.7million pounds to the victims of the families.

In 2017 he was released from prison after serving nine years of a 33-year sentence for armed robbery and kidnapping having been arrested in Las Vegas a decade earlier.

[Elfdart]

OJ Simpson was held up as an example of a nice, well-mannered young man for his entire career in football. He became even more famous for the Hertz commercials where he ran through the airport and was given lead roles in several movies in spite of a total lack of talent (he almost got the role of the killer robot in The Terminator). Ditto for sportscasting, where he was embarrassingly bad. In other words, the Establishment went to great lengths to promote Simpson and make him rich. Even people with hair-trigger bullshit detectors like Howard Cosell bought into it.

https://youtu.be/r-VdGtj325w?si=XxGGXtCZ8cvh6p-f&t=347

[youtube]http://youtu.be/r-VdGtj325w?si=XxGGXtCZ8cvh6p-f&t=347[/youtube]

That's why in spite of the fact that he had recently been arrested for wife-beating, people were flabbergasted when he got charged with a double murder. It's as if Bill Cosby had turned out to be a serial rapist who drugged his victims...

Alexander Cockburn had an excellent essay on the freak show trial and racist media coverage in The Nation. after the verdict. I wish I could find it because it was brilliant.

[Broomstick]

Good riddance to rubbish. No tears shed.

[Broomstick]

Dupe

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Who else saw the 2016 series The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story? As someone who was still a child when this went down, I found the insight to be fascinating.

[Broomstick]

Having lived through pretty much the entire saga from football star to movie guy (I question if what he did could be called "acting" but he did a decent cameo) to pitchman to wife beater to slow-mo car chase to accused murderer to convicted thief... can't say I'm really interested in watching anything more on him.

OK, he was acquitted by a jury of the murder. That still leaves him a wife beater and a thief. Not a good person.

[Zaune]

I thought he was a basketball player for some reason. Then again I'm too young to remember his career pre-disgrace and from a country where most people know as much about American football as the average US national knows about cricket.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

I thought he was a basketball player for some reason. Then again I'm too young to remember his career pre-disgrace and from a country where most people know as much about American football as the average US national knows about cricket.

There is this Family Guy episode, there was a bit where Peter Griffin wondered whether Simpson would be be offended being asked to autograph a basketball, and was told he'd be very offended.