The 74-year-old Olympic gold medallist’s ex-wife, Kris Jenner, 68, was previously married to the late Robert Kardashian, who defended Simpson in court after he was accused of murdering his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.
Jenner addressed his death with a scathing post on X, shared after it was announced on Thursday that Simpson had died from cancer aged 76 a day earlier: “Good Riddance #OJSimpson.”
Caitlyn Jenner has reacted to the news of O.J. Simpson's death by labelling it "good riddance". Photo / AP
Jenner has never shied away from sharing her views on Simpson and her theory the former NFL star-turned-actor slaughtered Brown and Goldman.
During her appearance on 2021′s I’m a Celebrity, she said she was convinced he was guilty of the double murder.
Later that year, she said on the Australian show: “It was an extraordinarily difficult time. Nicole was Kris’ best friend - had been for a long time.
“I was at Nicole’s house two days before the murder. Obviously, he did it and he got away with it, and at one point he even told Nicole, ‘I’ll kill you and get away with it ‘cause I’m O.J. Simpson’. And Nicole relayed that on to Kris at one point, and unfortunately, she was right.”
In 2017, Caitlyn said in her memoir The Secrets of My Life that Simpson was the “most narcissistic, egocentric, neediest [man] in the world of sports I had ever seen, and I had seen a lot of them.”
More than 150 million people worldwide were glued to TVs during Simpson’s 11-month trial, which ended in October 1995 with a not guilty verdict for the former athlete.
After less than four hours of deliberation, a jury found Simpson not guilty on two charges of murder - but he was found liable for the deaths in a civil case brought by Nicole and Goldman’s families in 1997 and ordered to pay them US$33.5 million ($55.8m) in damages.
While the Kardashian family are yet to respond to the news, it’s known that Simpson’s trial “tore their family apart”, according to Kim Kardashian.
The 43-year-old reality TV veteran’s lawyer dad, Robert Kardashian, was a close friend of the acquitted murder suspect - and a key part of his multimillion-dollar “Dream Team” defence line-up.
During a 2020 episode of David Letterman’s Netflix show My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, Kim said of the trial, “We didn’t really know what to believe or whose side to take as kids, because we didn’t want to hurt one of our parents’ feelings.
“It tore my family apart, I’d say, for the whole time of the trial... I’ve never expressed how I’ve felt about that because I just respect his children.”
However, Kim’s mum Kris, 68, who was Brown’s best friend, said she was convinced Simpson was a murderer.
Kim’s dad, who died of oesophageal cancer aged 59 in 2003, expressed doubts over Simpson’s innocence and cut contact with him.
Kim Kardashian with her father, the late Robert Kardashian, and sisters Kourtney and Khloe. Photo / Instagram
Ron Goldman’s dad said Simpson’s death was simply a “further reminder of the loss of my son”.
Fred Goldman was left broken when his boy was found stabbed to death 20 days before his 26th birthday alongside Brown outside her Los Angeles home.
He told the Daily Mail in the wake of Simpson’s death: “The only thing that I have to say today is that this is a further reminder of the loss of my son Ron.
“It is a further reminder of my son’s murder and a reminder about the many years we have missed Ron. His death is a reminder that Ron and Nicole were murdered by him. I am not going to react to my thoughts about him dying.”
The View hosts reacted to the news of Simpson’s death during their show, with Sunny Hostin remarking, “Can I just say, who doesn’t remember the trial of the century?
“I mean, it was an 11-month-long trial. And the Bronco and I think it’s one of those questions: ‘Where were you at when O.J. was in that Bronco?’” Hostin continued. “I remember I was at Cafe Figueroa on a date with a guy named Paul... I also remember feeling a great sense of injustice happened.
Her co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin added, “My parents had [the broadcast coverage on Simpson] on wall to wall, it really was. It consumed so much of our public consciousness. I remember that and Princess Diana’s death just, like, ingrained in me.
“And to me, when someone like this passes, really my only thought is I hope it gives some peace to the family of the victims. They did win the civil suit after the fact because I agree; I think it was a miscarriage of justice. But that doesn’t make up for it. So I hope that it helps them to find some peace.”
