THE FALL OF O.J. SIMPSON

HIS MUCH-WATCHED TRIAL FOR THE BRUTAL MURDERS OF NICOLE BROWN SIMPSON AND RONALD GOLDMAN USHERED IN A NEW ERA OF FASCINATION WITH CELEBRITYAND CRIME. AND DESPITE HIS ACQUITTAL IN 1995, HE WAS SHADOWED BY CONTROVERSY FOREVER

- JOHNNY DODD

O.J. Simpson's final social media video on Feb. 11 serves as a reminder of the disgraced former football star's firm belief that he could dictate his own fate. "Thank you to all the people who reached out to me," said the father of five, flashing a warm trademark smile while sitting poolside at his Las Vegas home. "My health is good. Obviously, I'm dealing with some issues, but I think I'm just about over it, and I'll be back on that golf course hopefully in a couple of weeks."

Two months later Simpson-who first acknowledged that he'd undergone chemotherapy after "catching cancer" in a May 2023 video―will never return to the links. Despite his public assurances that "all is well," his condition worsened. By the first week of April, word went out to friends and family that the end was near. "People flew in from all over," says Simpson's longtime Las Vegas attorney Malcolm LaVergne. Well-wishers visited to say goodbye as Simpson drifted in and out of consciousness, and the family announced Simpson was surrounded by his four surviving children and three grandchildren. “It really was a celebration of life for a person who was still alive.”