O.J. Simpson, NFL Great Acquitted of Ex-Wife’s Murder in High-Profile Trial, Dies at 76

O.J. Simpson, the NFL great who later became better known for being accused of killing his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson amid a high-profile televised car chase and trial in which he was ultimately acquitted of murder charges, has died. He was 76.

In a post on Simpson’s official X (formerly known as Twitter) account, the Simpson family shared the following statement: “On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer. 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.”

His death follows a life colored by success in sports and Hollywood later overshadowed by courtroom trials. Simpson’s  Heisman Trophy-winning days at USC – where he had a record-breaking run for 2,000 yards in a season — and playing the lovable dunce in the Naked Gun movies was later pre-empted by what became the Trial of the Century.

That began on June 12, 1994 when Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole BrownSimpson was found murdered outside her Brentwood condominium along with a young man later identified as Ronald Goldman. Simpson was immediately identified as a potential suspect in the murder of the mother of his two young children.

What followed was a murder trial where Simpson was ultimately being found not guilty of the double murder outside his Brentwood home on Bundy Drive in Los Angeles. An estimated 150 million people tuned in to see Simpson walk free of the courtroom on Oct. 3, 1995. 

But he faced hurdles getting his life back on track. A civil ruling followed that ordered Simpson to pay $33.5 million to the Goldman family.  Simpson returned to court to stand trial for a 2007 Las Vegas incident in which he and gun-toting friends attempted to recover sports memorabilia O.J. felt was his. Simpson went to jail after being found guilty of the gunpoint robbery. He was released in 2017, having served nine years.

This story was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.