Celebrity News April 12, 2024
O.J. Simpson: New Deathbed Secrets & Massive Debt Revelation
O.J. Simpson passed away at 76 after a battle with cancer, and now new details about his death and finances have come to light.
TMZ reports that he was surrounded by 30 to 50 visitors in his final days, but all family and friends had to sign NDAs to keep his health battle private.
Among the visitors were his eldest children, Arnelle, 55, and Jason, 53, with first wife Marguerite Whitley. They also had a third child, a daughter named Aaren, who drowned in the 1970s before she turned 2.
His youngest children, Sydney, 38, and Jason, 35, with murdered ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson were also there.
TMZ reports that doctors noted a decline in O.J.’s health on Friday, and that’s when the visitors gathered. His children were reportedly with him when he passed away on Wednesday.
According to CBS Sports, Simpson was diagnosed with prostate cancer in February and was receiving treatment.
On Thursday, his family wrote on X, “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.”
Following a storied career in the NFL and many acting roles in movies and on TV, Simpson became better known for his arrest for the murders of his ex-wife Nicole and her friend Ron Goldman in 1994.
In 1995, Simpson was infamously found not guilty of the murders, but two years later, he lost a civil lawsuit that found him “responsible” for their murders. He was ordered to pay the Brown and Goldman families $33.5 million.
Now, lawyer David Cook, who represents Ron’s father Fred Goldman, is speaking out.
He tells People that Simpson never paid off the debt, and the amount with interest has since ballooned to $114 million.
"He died without penance,” Cook said of O.J. “He did not want to give a dime, a nickel to Fred — never, anything, never.”
“He [still] owes on the current status of the judgment,” the lawyer continued.
Cook added that past attempts to gain access to funds from O.J.’s NFL pension and trust weren’t successful.
According to legal docs obtained by People, Simpson had only paid $133,000 to the family since the 1997 trial.
The Goldmans also reportedly made some money from the sale of O.J.’s 2007 hypothetical book “If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer.” A judge ruled at the time that proceeds should go to the Goldmans.
It was also in 2007 that O.J. was arrested in Las Vegas for armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. He was sentenced to 33 years, but was released on parole in 2018 after serving nine years behind bars.