The former NFL star has passed away after a long battle with cancer.
The family of O.J. Simpson announced his death this afternoon at the age of 76.
The one-time NFL running-back was most infamously known for standing trial for the double-murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, in the ’90s.
The ordeal was coined the ‘Trial of the Century’ and the low-speed car chase across Los Angeles that led to his arrest is considered one of the most dramatic, shared experiences in live television history.
His family stated in a social media post that he was joined by his children and grandchildren at the time of his death.
The controversial sportsman was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year, and had apparently been spending the last few months in hospice care.
His last post on Twitter came back in February, when he publicly backed his former team, the San Francisco 49ers, to win. In the video, Simpson can be seen seated in a lawn chair next to a swimming pool, wearing a 49ers jersey.
For his lengthy murder trial, which ran from 1994 into 1995, O.J. hired a so-called dream team of defense lawyers — led by the late Johnnie Cochran, who ran point, and helped pick apart the State’s case.
Years after being acquitted, he was sued by the Goldmans and the Browns in civil court for the wrongful death.
A jury found him liable for the deaths of Nicole and Ron and he was ordered to pay tens of millions in damages.
Following the back-to-back courtroom proceedings, Simpson fled to Las Vegas and avoided paying the judgement.
In 2007, he made headlines again when he was arrested and subsequently charged with with armed robbery, assault, burglary and conspiracy. He was sentenced to 33 years in prison but ended up being released on parole in 2017.
Since then, he had kept a relatively low profile while living in Las Vegas, sporadically posting updates from his life on Twitter.
