According to his family, Simpson died of complications from cancer.
O. J. Simpson was one of the best football players in the USA. He later gained worldwide fame through a murder trial.
Ross Lewis / Getty Images North America
etz./(Reuters) Former football player and actor O. J. Simpson passed away on April 10, according to a post on his X account. According to the post, he succumbed to cancer surrounded by his family.
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
Simpson was one of the best running backs in the USA in the 1970s and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He later appeared as an actor in Hollywood films such as the “Naked Gun” series. He gained worldwide fame because he was suspected of having murdered his white ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her acquaintance Ronald Goldman.
Suspicion against Simpson was spread very quickly and Simpson was soon asked to turn himself in to the police. Five days after the murders, he fled in his white Ford Bronco with a former teammate. There was a chase through Los Angeles, which the media broadcast live.
The trial against Simpson sparked a long-lasting discussion about racism in the USA and was described in the American media as the “trial of the century”.
Simpson avoided prison time because a Los Angeles jury acquitted him. Simpson later served nine years in a Nevada prison after being convicted in 2008 of 12 counts of armed robbery and kidnapping of two sporting goods dealers at gunpoint in a Las Vegas hotel.