Celebrity Death: O.J Simpson-76

[The Crypto Guy]

delete

 

[reckoning]

It's really hard to explain to people who are too young to remember just what a media circus that whole trial was. I've never seen anything like it since.

I never watched the trial on tv or tried to follow it in the news, but I still knew all about Kato Kaelin and Mark Fuhrman because it was all anyone talked about.

 

[HanSolo]

It's really hard to explain to people who are too young to remember just what a media circus that whole trial was. I've never seen anything like it since.

I never watched the trial on tv or tried to follow it in the news, but I still knew all about Kato Kaelin and Mark Fuhrman because it was all anyone talked about.

As much as I think Ryan Murphy is a hack, American Crime Story was a pretty good window into that time for me as someone who was a toddler when that trial was unfolding.

 

[kingsholygrail]

As much as I think Ryan Murphy is a hack, American Crime Story was a pretty good window into that time for me as someone who was a toddler when that trial was unfolding.

I remember trial coverage interrupting my afternoon cartoons after school.

 

[Baby Punisher]

"The legal stuff" lol he murdered two people

Never convicted. How dare you slander the man who is dead and can't defend himself. If he was still alive he would shive you with a prison shank.

 

[Raging Bull]

One of my all time favorites.

 

[reckoning]

As much as I think Ryan Murphy is a hack, American Crime Story was a pretty good window into that time for me as someone who was a toddler when that trial was unfolding.

My main issue with it was that it seemed like they were making Kardashian a bigger part of the story than he was just so they could throw in references to his before they were famous kids.

 

[Osprey]

It's really hard to explain to people who are too young to remember just what a media circus that whole trial was. I've never seen anything like it since.

I never watched the trial on tv or tried to follow it in the news, but I still knew all about Kato Kaelin and Mark Fuhrman because it was all anyone talked about.

I remember when the verdict was announced. All morning, we knew that it was the day (because the jury made its decision the day before) and even knew that the announcement would come at 10am. I can't think of many instances when a verdict was delayed a day and a specific time for its reading was given hours in advance. It probably had a lot to do with fears of another race riot. It had been less than 3 years since the 1992 LA riots that erupted when cops were acquitted in the Rodney King case, and there was a lot of concern that there could be a repeat if O.J. had been found guilty. The delay might've been so that the city could prepare, and I've always wondered if the fear might've even influenced the jurors.

I was in a college class when the verdict was announced and remember that the classroom was a little emptier than usual that day, no doubt because some students chose to skip class to listen to the verdict. One student who came, anyways, got up shortly before 10am and left the classroom, listened to the verdict, returned, interrupted the professor's lesson and announced the verdict to the class. It was that big of news... except maybe to the professor, who was not at all happy about the interruption and ordered the student to leave the classroom. I'm not sure if I ever saw that guy in class again.

The only trial that's come close since is the Michael Jackson trial, but the O.J. trial still feels like it was on another level.

 

[Hasbro]

 

[Hippasus]

I remember when the verdict was announced. All morning, we knew that it was the day (because the jury made its decision the day before) and even knew that the announcement would come at 10am. I can't think of many instances when a verdict was delayed a day and a specific time for its reading was given hours in advance. It probably had a lot to do with fears of another race riot. It had been less than 3 years since the 1992 LA riots that erupted when cops were acquitted in the Rodney King case, and there was a lot of concern that there could be a repeat if O.J. had been found guilty. I imagine that the delay was largely so that the city could prepare, and I've always wondered if fear of the consequences of a guilty verdict might've even influenced the jurors. Anyways, it was more than just a double murder trial with a star athlete and media personality.

I was in a college class when the verdict was announced and remember that the classroom was a little emptier than usual that day, no doubt because some students chose to skip class to listen to the verdict. One student who came, anyways, got up shortly before 10am and left the classroom, listened to the verdict, returned, interrupted the professor's lesson and announced the verdict to the class. It was that big of news... except maybe to the professor, who was not at all happy about the interruption and ordered the student to leave the classroom. I'm not sure if I ever saw that guy in class again.

The only trial that felt like it came close since is the Michael Jackson trial, but I'd still say that the O.J. trial was on another level.

I was in high school and the teachers carted all of us kids into the library to see the verdict live. How is that educational? Brainwashing us to become addicted to celebrity news more like it.

 

[TheGreenTBer]

It's really hard to explain to people who are too young to remember just what a media circus that whole trial was. I've never seen anything like it since.

I never watched the trial on tv or tried to follow it in the news, but I still knew all about Kato Kaelin and Mark Fuhrman because it was all anyone talked about.

Yep. I remember clear as day, watching this in math class in school. We were transfixed.

 

[PANARIN BREAD FAN]

at the time the verdict was announced i was standing outside in front of an NYC off track betting outlet while in between horse races. it was sometime around 1pm. i knew right away oj was found not guilty by all the black guys in the street that didn't even know each other all doing high 5 motions.

if he was found guilty would there had been outrage and riots all over again in the LA area?

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Rest in piss

 

[hamzarocks]

I just got my like function back today... lets just say the world is a better place with fewer people like OJ Simpson around

 

[kihei]

All the allegations and court stuff aside OJ was always good for a laugh and entertainment.

Kind of an "Outside of that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play" sort of thing, no? And maybe "always" isn't quite the right word either.

 

[Osprey]

Kind of an "Outside of that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play" sort of thing, no? And maybe "always" isn't quite the right word either.

I don't want to speak for Rodgerwilco, but his example suggests that he was laughing at the man's misfortune. This thread features jokes about O.J. from 1994 and jokes about him in 2024, so I'd say that it's true that he was good for a laugh, just often at his expense.

 

[Fiji Water]

Horrible guy. Not sad he's gone.

 

[JianYang]

Even in Canada, this trial was massive.

I can only recall a couple times that we got to watch live TV in elementary school, and one of those times was to hear OJ's verdict.

I wasn't old enough to grasp the complete magnitude of it at the time, but for many people, if i were to bring up the mid 90s in a conversation, this saga would immediately come to mind.

 

[frisco]

The OJ Simpson arrest and trial was by far the most reported, heavily covered event of the last fifty years. I mean I can't think of anything that's remotely close, save (maybe) the CO-VID pandemic.

And it made stars and literal fortunes for the Kardashians/Jenners, a ton of media-types, the legal teams on both sides (granted Cochrane and F.Lee Bailey were pretty well known beforehand), the judge, the detectives, guys like Kato Kaelin, AC Cowlings and almost every witness that took the stand. Heck, even the victims and their families.

Countless comedians and talk shows built their schtick around the OJ trial for 18 months++ (remember Jay Leno's Dancing Ito's?). Books and magazines about the case were written by almost everyone.

Almost all the touchstones of reality TV can be traced back to OJ. The aforementioned multi-million (billion?) Kardashian/Jenner empires and that offspring, The Hills, Celebrity Wives, Court TV and that genre. True crime shows. The OJ in America doc and that drama which were released over 20 years out and were big hits.

OJ And Reality TV

Also, the first (and pretty only main one still) full trial to be covered live on a day-to-day basis. And that thing went on over a year. And it was riveting.

And I'm just talking pop culture. I won't get into the whole thing regarding race relations and effect on law enforcement and the legal system, etc.,

Just like big wars or The Great Depression or CO-VID, people who lived through those events were defined by them. They are like eras. OJ Simpson has his own era of history and I lived through it.

My Best-Carey

 

[WeThreeKings]

My parents had the trial on all the time, I remember playing with GI Joes while the trial was going on in the background.

My parents would always tell me how bad the judge was and how he played a huge part in how OJ Simpson got away with murder.

 

[TheGreenTBer]

Norm finally got him!

 

[LarryFisherman]

View attachment 849888
Stole this from another site of ill repute. Made me laugh.

Norm being gone is still a daily tragedy.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Kind of an "Outside of that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play" sort of thing, no? And maybe "always" isn't quite the right word either.

Yeah I guess “Always” wasn’t exactly the best word. Just meant to say it seemed like when I’d see comments or videos from him these days he would be funny, especially on twitter. I wasn’t lf age of reason during the trial, so perhaps I’d feel differently had I been.

I don't want to speak for Rodgerwilco, but his example suggests that he was laughing at the man's misfortune. This thread features jokes about O.J. from 1994 and jokes about him in 2024, so I'd say that it's true that he was good for a laugh, just often at his expense.

Thank you, Osprey. I appreciate the comment. OJ has become a meme of sorts for folks around my age. I was but a young child of 3 years old when the trials were conducted. Maybe if I was older at that time I would have a different (likely darker) outlook, but as it stands, he was basically the butt of the joke as long as I’ve been aware of him.

I don’t mean that at Nicole Brown and/or Ron Goldman’s expense, but unfortunately that’s his position within the zeitgeist of my generation.

 

[NyQuil]

I was allowed to keep my Sony Walkman + FM/AM Radio (Sports yellow!) on in my high school classroom, listening through headphones for the verdict.

My thunder was stolen by a giant football dude named Tom who ran through the hallways yelling "The Juice is loose! The Juice is loose!"

It made household names out of people like Al Cowlings, Lance Ito and Johnnie Cochran.

We filmed a skit that year for English about MacBeth where we redid it as the OJ Simpson trial.

 

[The Macho King]

The Naked Gun was a great franchise.