"All Is Well," O.J. Declared Just Two Months Before His Death — What Happened?
Nearly 30 years after Nicole Brown's murder, news broke that O.J. Simpson died of cancer. Who knew he was so sick?
Updated April 12 2024, 1:12 p.m. ET
Former NFL player and figure behind the iconic line 'If it doesn't fit, you must acquit', O.J. Simpson died on April 11, 2024. His family announced the news the following day on Twitter, attributing his passing to cancer. "Our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer. He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren," the statement reads.
Although his death caught many off guard, it also brought relief to some.
O.J., a person most known for being found not guilty in the murders of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman, was previously famous for being one of the best NFL running backs of all time, a relatively funny comedic actor, a pitchman for Hertz, and a Heisman Trophy winner.
Find out what O.J. was doing prior to his death, and why so many were surprised by the news.
Two months before his death, O.J. shut down rumors that he was in hospice.
Prior to his death, O.J. was regularly posting to Twitter/X, golfing, and rooting for his former teams, the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers. He had 877,000+ followers since joining on June 14, 2019.
In February 2024, Local News 10 reported that O.J. had prostate cancer and was currently undergoing chemotherapy in Las Vegas. The same day that news reported, O.J. took to X to deny rumors of him being in hospice care. "Hospice! Hospice!" O.J. quizzically asked the camera in a video as he sit in the driver seat of his vehicle.
He went on to confirm that he wasn't in hospice and actually appeared to be doing just fine, aside from the fact that he was undergoing chemo. Apparently, 'Juice's' condition must have worsened from that point on as it was just two months after that he died.
Shortly before his death, O.J. was also popping up timelines due to an interview Tom Sandoval did with The New York Times. In the piece, Tom says, “I'm not a pop culture historian really, but I witnessed the O.J. Simpson thing and George Floyd and all these big things, which is really weird to compare this to that, I think, but do you think in a weird way it's a little bit of the same?”
No, it’s not a little bit the same but the piece is titled “How Tom Sandoval Became the Most Hated Man in America” and there’s a good argument that both O.J. and Tom are more hated than liked.
Where was O.J. Simpson living prior to his death?
Since being released from prison in 2017, O.J. spent many of his weekends during the NFL and college football season releasing 90 to 120 second clips about the sport from his home. At his time of death, O.J. was living in a golf course community of Canyon Gate Country Club in Las Vegas, Nevada according to The Daily Mail.
So, what was O.J. Simpson convicted of?
Taking back his stuff. Kind of. O.J. was found guilty of robbery, kidnapping, and possession of a deadly weapon in 2008. It stemmed from a September 13, 2007 incident in Las Vegas.
O.J. and others broke into the Palace Station hotel room of sports memorabilia dealer Bruce Fromong and stole memorabilia at gunpoint. He was convicted of 12 counts and served 9 years of the maximum 33-year sentence. He was granted parole and released on October 1, 2017.
Once again, O.J. was not convicted of double murder in 1994, but was found guilty of those murders in a civil trial and was sentenced to pay $33.5 million to the victim's families in 1997.
According to Ron Goldman’s father, he’s received less than 1 percent of the money owed. In fact, according to court documents obtained by Distractify, as of 2022, O.J. still owed Ron more than $96 million, a sum that likely ballooned due to accruing interest.
While it's certain that O.J.'s name will be remembered, how people perceive him will undoubtedly differ.