OJ Simpson has died

[tobee]

Terrible terrible man

He was as famous in the UK then as Michael Jordan is now.

I thought I'd read he got away with it because black people in California were anti law enforcement after a police attack on a black man, Rodney King I think. It was filmed and caused riots. The majority black jury supported Simpson, sort of two fingers up to the white establishment. No idea if it is true.

I suppose the money helped as he had top lawyers who managed to get the venue for the trial changed from a predominantly white area to a predominantly black area where there was a good chance he'd get a majority black jury.

Thinking about it I'm not sure if I read it or it was a documentary.

@Geebray is right, he was well known in the UK as an actor, probably less so as a sportsman but that might be me as I'm not interested in sport.

He wasn't just a wife killer, he also killed the man who was with Nicole, Ronald Goldman. Awful for Nicole's parents who saw him walk free and then get custody of the children who had been living with their grandparents.

Okay

I highly recommend The People v OJ Simpson for those who haven't seen it. It's so good it's worth a rewatch too. Outstanding series.

It was one of those cases that brought home just how much women are held in contempt and, when it comes to politically motivated decisions and competing rights, how women are always the bottom of the pile. He was a rich, famous, well-connected man but somehow he was the underdog, whereas Nicole Brown Simpson was, at best, an inconvenience whose death mustn't be allowed to spark a racial tinderbox or, at worst, a spoilt gold digger who probably had it coming. There were some people who were positively gleeful, not because he got off but because he had gotten away with it.

This is really pertinent right now. There is a growing movement that calls women who want violent and predatory men locked up 'carceral feminists' and casts them as the villains. Some academics have accused women who report rapes of 'crying white women's tears,' and following recent incidents of men punching random women in New York many of the victims have refused to report the crimes to the police because they have been shamed into thinking that being white or straight or middle-class cancels out the most fundamental advantage that men have over women. It feels like women in western liberal democracies are now living in a perpetual OJ Simpson trial where they are only allowed to be a victim if the politics is right.

My mistake! Got my Leslie Nielson movies mixed up 😊

I remember the trial clearly and have watched subsequent documentaries and dramatised versions. Read a book or two about it all. What a disgusting, immoral, cowardly individual he was.

I’m sure there’s something in that in a very general way, but OJ Simpson got off because of racial tension and distrust. I really don’t think misogyny or money came into it very much.

He also murdered a man.

He's vile. I'm very glad he's dead. I saw the photos of what he did to Nicole. The fact he almost decapitated her whilst their children were asleep inside the house beggars belief.

Yes but the focus was on race. Not on the violent murder of his ex wife, mother of his children, the woman Nicole Brown.

It was chosen to be that way as it suited his defence lawyers. They were able to use various things to focus on race to manipulate the result to "not guilty". One of the ironies being that OJ Simpson and his brand hadn't really been about race.

@Iwasafool I think you're right.

That did also play a part. The LA cops were horrifically racist and the capturing on video of the Rodney King meant that everyone saw that.

Much like Brexit gave neglected and taken-for-granted voters a chance (as they saw it) to stick 2 fingers up to the establishment which they correctly saw had let them down (without necessarily knowing the effects a Leave vote would have), the OJ trial was seen by many black people, including jurors, to stick 2 fingers up what they saw (largely correctly) as a racist, corrupt justice system.

They knew that the police routinely lied and beat up innocent black men. That would have made it easier to believe that they had framed OJ.

Tribalism played a part, just as it does in today's identity politics.

I do think that his status as a wealthy, successful sportsman will also have played a part.

His wife, a victim of repeated domestic violence didn't have any justice while she was alive and she and her friend didn't get any justice after their deaths because OJ got away with double murder.

That was exactly my point. A dead woman was a political inconvenience so her murder didn't matter. Nobody actually believed he was innocent but they were either triumphant that he'd beaten the system or relieved that the LA Riots weren't about to be repeated. You could actually murder your wife and get away with it if the political climate was right. I remember thinking at the time that you could do what you like to women because nobody is scared of us, nobody even thinks that we might riot.

It was absolutely about misogyny and money along with racial issues, people were even saying so at the time. Celebrity was another major factor, someone that famous couldn't have possibly done a bad thing 🙄

Not sure his death is worthy of a thread? His name should be forgotten
RIP Nicole Simpson
RIP Ron Goldman

My son, aged 18, just texted to tell me and said if you know him. I said I know of him and it's no loss to the world. He said he agrees.

I wonder if we'll ever get the proof that he is a murderer.

His family have asked for peace and grace for this new situation.

Well I was quite tentative as a thread starter I must admit.

Really? Rest in peace ?

Good riddance, horrible abusive man who murdered in cold blood and got away with it.

May he rest in peace. An icon of many generations, and one of the first real all-round 'celebrities'. Incredible sportsman and actor.
My thoughts are with his friends and family.

Where can I watch this please ?

My thoughts are with his victims.

OJ was proven innocent. Not sure which victims you're on about.

He wasn’t totally unknown. He was a famous American sportsman.