Doha Madani (NBC News)
(NBC NEWS) – O.J. Simpson, the former NFL star who was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife and her friend in a televised trial that gripped the nation, has died of cancer at age 76, according to his family.
“He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren,” the family said in a statement posted to X. “During this time of transition, his family asks that you please respect their wishes for privacy and grace.”
Reports circulated in February that Simpson had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and was in hospice care as he underwent chemotherapy. Simpson denied that he was in hospice in a video posted to X, but did not address whether or not he’d been diagnosed with cancer.
“Hospice? Hospice? You talking ‘bout hospice?” Simpson said in the video with a laugh, adding that he doesn’t know who started the rumors.
Orenthal James Simpson played 11 seasons in the NFL, known as “The Juice” to his fans, but his sports legacy took a backseat in the 1990s after his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson was killed.
Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman were found stabbed to death outside of her Los Angeles home on June 12, 1994.
When Los Angeles Police officers went to Simpson’s home to speak to him about the murders, Simpson did not answer the door but officers noticed blood on the door of his vehicle.
Once a revered athlete, Simpson went from a Hall of Fame icon to a murder suspect.
Days later, officials charged Simpson with the murders and he attempted to evade arrest, resulting in an infamous hourslong police chase along Southern California’s highways in Simpson’s white Ford Bronco.
Simpson’s case went to trial in 1995 and was broadcast to millions of viewers across the nation. He was acquitted of both murders in a controversial verdict. Two years later, he was found civilly liable for the double homicide.
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