O.J. Simpson Claimed First Wife Marguerite Whitley "Threatened Him With Physical Abuse" After Divorce
O.J. Simpson had quite the tumultuous relationship with first wife Marguerite Whitley. She was 18 and he was 19 when they married in 1967.
Published April 11 2024, 2:55 p.m. ET
O.J. Simpson and Marguerite Whitley in 1977
Famed quarterback and actor O.J. Simpson passed away from cancer on April 10, 2024, at age 76, according to a statement from his family.
Playing in the NFL for 11 seasons split between the Buffalo Bills and the San Francisco 49ers, O.J., who was nicknamed "Juice," won four NFL rushing titles, rushed for 11,236 yards in his career, scored 76 touchdowns, and played in five Pro Bowls before retiring in 1979.
An impressive career in sports, it was his personal life that kept him in the spotlight for years to come. In June 1994, his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ron Goldman, were found dead outside her Los Angeles apartment complex. That month, O.J. was arrested in connection with their double murder but infamously was acquitted of all charges in October 1995 during what has been dubbed a trial of the century.
O.J. married Nicole Brown in 1985, and they had two children together, Sydney and Justin. They divorced in 1992. Their marriage was highly publicized before and after Nicole's murder, which sometimes makes people forget that she wasn't O.J.'s first wife.
O.J. was married to Marguerite Whitley from 1967 to 1979, whom he had one son, Jason, and two daughters, Arnelle and Aaren with. So, who is O.J.'s first wife, Marguerite? Here's everything we know about her.
O.J. Simpson and first wife Marguerite Whitley with their kids Arnelle and Jason in 1973.
Who is Marguerite Whitley? She was married to O.J. Simpson during the height of his NFL career.
Not much is known about the early life of Marguerite, who sometimes spells her name with a "q" instead of a "g," per the New York Times. She and O.J. met in high school and were first introduced as she had been dating O.J.'s close friend, Al Cowlings.
O.J. and Marguerite began dating in 1965 and married in 1967 in their hometown of San Francisco. Marguerite was born in 1949 and was 18 when she married O.J., who was 19. They were both college students at the time of their matrimony.
In 1969, they moved to Amherst, N.Y., where he started playing the Buffalo Bills. However, once the '70s came along, their relationship started to get rocky, and they temporarily separated several times before their divorce was finalized in 1979. Unfortunately, records do not indicate what their disputes were about.
In a 1979 interview with People magazine, O.J. claimed his star power led to their divorce. “The price of fame was our biggest problem,” he said at the time, adding, “My wife is a private person, yet we can't walk down the street without causing a commotion.”
Per the Times, Marguerite asked her lawyer to start divorce proceedings as early as 1973, but those were later called off.
Marguerite and O.J. had three children together, a son, Jason, and daughters, Arnelle and Aaren. Their youngest daughter, Aaren, accidentally drowned in 1979 following their divorce. She was just one month shy of her second birthday.
O.J. Simpson claimed wife Marguerite threatened him with physical force in 1980.
Following their 1979 divorce, O.J. claimed that Marguerite refused to move out of their Brentwood home, according to court filings by O.J.'s lawyer, obtained by the Times. The records noted that she "threatened him with physical abuse, libel, and slander and to call the police." Also involved was a dispute about the financial settlement.
In 1981, Marguerite sued O.J. for failing to pay $26,000, which she said she was owed as part of the divorce settlement. The claim was eventually settled. Following that, Marguerite was believed to receive $1,500 a month in child support for their two living children.
Marguerite Whitley in 1973
Where is Marguerite Whitley now?
Marguerite lives a quiet life, and little is known about her. After divorcing O.J., she remarried twice and was believed to have worked as an interior designer at some point. Marguerite is still believed to be alive in 2024, but her whereabouts are unknown.
When it came to O.J.'s double murder trial in 1995, she was in support of her ex-husband, as witnessed during a January 1995 interview on 20/20, per Vogue. She told then-host Barbara Walters that she would be "willing to testify" that O.J. never hit her during their relationship.
“If he did, he would have got a frying pan upside his head,” she said, adding, "There was just no way that I would allow that to happen to me."
Marguerite also said that she believed her ex-husband was innocent of the murders of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman. She attended the trial alongside their kids before seemingly disappearing from the public.