OJ Simpson, a former United States football star acquitted of murder in a widely watched trial in the 1990s, has died at age 76.
San Francisco-born Orenthal James Simpson rose to fame in college before playing in the NFL.
In a statement shared on social media on Thursday morning, Simpson’s family said he died on Wednesday after a 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,” the statement said.
According to an Al Jazeera report, US media outlets reported in February that Simpson was undergoing treatment for prostate cancer.
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.
-The Simpson Family
— O.J. Simpson (@TheRealOJ32) April 11, 2024
Known by the nickname “The Juice”, Simpson was a star running back at the University of Southern California.
He won the Heisman Trophy, the top honour in American college football, in 1968 before making the jump to the National Football League (NFL) a year later as the Buffalo Bills’ number-one draft pick.
He played 11 seasons of professional American football and racked up numerous accolades.
However, Simpson became a controversial figure after he was charged with the stabbing deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, in 1994.
Simpson was reportedly ordered to surrender to police, but five days after the killings, he fled with a former teammate and led police in a low-speed chase through Los Angeles.
Simpson’s months-long trial — dubbed the “trial of the century” — was televised and drew widespread media attention in the US and around the world.
Reports suggest Simpson’s acquittal in 1995 also divided the country.
Some Americans viewed it as a miscarriage of justice, while others believed he was unfairly targeted by a racist police force.
“I don’t think most of America believes I did it,” Simpson told The New York Times in 1995, a week after a jury determined he did not kill Brown and Goldman. “I’ve gotten thousands of letters and telegrams from people supporting me.”
His life saga was recounted in the Oscar-winning 2016 documentary O.J.: Made in America, as well as various TV dramatisations.
Simpson also briefly had a book deal, announced in 2006, for a manuscript called If I Did It. Public outrage, however, scuttled its publication, and the family of murder victim Ron Goldman ultimately acquired the rights.
In the wake of Simpson’s death, the Goldman family told NBC News that they would not mourn his passing.
“The only thing I have to say is it’s just further reminder of Ron being gone all these years,” Fred Goldman said. “It’s no great loss to the world. It’s a further reminder of Ron’s being gone.”