# OJ Simpson has died **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death\ **Created:** [April 11, 2024, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-simpson-has-died/1000157 "2024-04-11T14:58:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2024, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-simpson-has-died/1000157/101 "2024-04-11T22:34:36Z")
Juice Meets The Deuce? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2024, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-simpson-has-died/1000157/102 "2024-04-11T22:47:37Z")
I’m hard pressed to think of what OJ and Henry Kissinger will have to talk about for eternity. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2024, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-simpson-has-died/1000157/103 "2024-04-11T22:48:49Z")
> **Hid hijack of thread** > > > [@Moriarty](#): > > > > I’m happy to debate this, although we may get kicked out of this forum. But the evidence against OJ was _overwhelming_. > > Not really. To summarize: > > DNA evidence that matches OJ. But DNA evidence was very new at the time, the lab was inexperienced, and followed sloppy procedures that likely contaminated the samples. > > A glove found at the crime scene, and a matching glove found at OJ’s house. Found by a cop with a proven history of falsifying evidence. > > A footprint made by a very rare shoe. A photograph of OJ wearing a similar shoe. But defence expert witness showed that the photograph was a fake, and prosecution was unable to challenge that. > > Plenty of hearsay. But hearsay is notoriously unreliable. There’s a good reason why the Jury didn’t get to hear it. > > And having OJ try the glove on, that was the prosecution’s idea. It failed. > > All of which amounts to insufficient evidence to prove guilt. > > > [@Moriarty](#): > > > > There’s good reason to discount the idea that Furman planted the glove at OJ’s house. > > > > His testimony > > is the testimony of a proven liar who was subsequently convicted and imprisoned for perjury. I can’t trust anything he said. > > > [@Moriarty](#): > > > > a fully formed plot to frame OJ. > > No, not a frame. A bit of help to the prosecution. Perfectly okay, because OJ was guilty anyway. > > > [@Moriarty](#): > > > > Yet, to believe that Furman planted evidence, you have to believe that Furman was willing to risk his own career (and freedom) to frame somebody [/quote] > > > > The fact is, he lied on the witness stand. He was caught doing so. He DID falsify evidence. He DID risk, and lose, his career. > > > > [quote] who he, to that point, had no other evidence to connect with the crime. > > You are missing a big point here. Fuhrman had previously investigated OJs violence towards his wife. He knew the history very well. When she turned up dead, he had every reason to select OJ as prime suspect. > > > [@Moriarty](#): > > > > Then, you have to believe that he planted it at OJ’s house _even though_, at that point, he had _no idea_ where OJ was. (In fact, he was in Chicago). OJ was famous; it was entirely likely that he had an ironclad alibi for the murder if in fact he was innocent. > > Not really. Fuhrman had already selected OJ as his suspect. He knew that OJ couldn’t have an alibi, because he knew that OJ was guilty. > > And you are answering the wrong narrative. It isn’t a case of a cop deciding to frame an innocent person. It’s a case of a cop planting evidence to help convict a guilty one. He wouldn’t be the first or the last. > > Am I sure that he planted the evidence? No, I am not. Maybe he did find the glove as described. But I don’t trust it. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2024, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-simpson-has-died/1000157/104 "2024-04-11T23:18:21Z")
I heartily endorse every word of your well-informed post. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2024, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-simpson-has-died/1000157/105 "2024-04-11T23:19:53Z")
> [@WalterBishop](#): > > I’m only sorry Norm MacDonald isn’t around to see this. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Ki6z4ohppbE/maxresdefault.jpg "Norm Macdonald Talks About Getting Fired From "Saturday Night Live" | Letterman") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki6z4ohppbE) > [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Random weird fact: Norm MacDonald was golf/poker buddies with Kato Kaelin for a while… Who has Kato Kaelin not known peripherally? He’s like celebrity herpes. > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > I’m hard pressed to think of what OJ and Henry Kissinger will have to talk about for eternity. They could do an ‘eternal podcast’ reviewing [_How To Get Away With Murder_](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3205802/) from a professional standpoint, or maybe GQ’s Tech Support series as “Homicide Support”. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2024, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-simpson-has-died/1000157/106 "2024-04-11T23:25:04Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > A surprising number of irate women called TV stations to complain, because their soap operas weren’t on While my wife never called the TV stations, I got an earful from her every day when I got home from work. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2024, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-simpson-has-died/1000157/107 "2024-04-11T23:26:52Z")
> **Hid long reply to hijack of thread** > > > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > > > DNA evidence that matches OJ. But DNA evidence was very new at the time, the lab was inexperienced, and followed sloppy procedures that likely contaminated the samples. > > This was the defense claim; you can’t rely on DNA identifying OJ Simpson because of “sloppy procedures” that “contaminated the samples”. > > Except contaminated samples won’t produce such false positives. If the samples ere contaminated, they wouldn’t point to OJ. Rather, they wouldn’t point to _anybody_. > > The reality was the jury (and most of America) was inexperienced with DNA, so it was new and confusing. Now, when we are told that the DNA shows that evidence at the scene matches somebody, people are more accepting of the science. > > > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > > > A glove found at the crime scene, and a matching glove found at OJ’s house. Found by a cop with a proven history of falsifying evidence. > > I’ve already addressed this. But I must ask for a cite that he had a “proven history of falsifying evidence”. I can’t find anything. Usually, cops with a _proven_ history of committing crimes aren’t kept on the job. > > > [@](#): > > > > In fairness to Fuhrman, the proposition that he planted the glove on Simpson’s property may be just that—unbelievable. An L.A.P.D. spokesman told me last week that there was no public record of any disciplinary proceedings against Fuhrman. > > [An Incendiary Defense | The New Yorker](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1994/07/25/an-incendiary-defense) > > > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > > > A footprint made by a very rare shoe. > > Yes, a very rare shoe which most people wouldn’t be able to afford. And a size 12, which also excludes most people. > > > [@](#): > > > > According to civil suit prosecutor, Daniel Petrocelli, only nine percent of the populationwore that particular size, and only 299 pairs of Bruno Magli’s had been sold at the times of the murder in the United States. It just so happened, O.J. Simpson wore a size 12. > > > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > > > But defence expert witness showed that the photograph was a fake, and prosecution was unable to challenge that. > > I don’t agree with your recollection. > > > [@](#): > > > > Simpson’s own legal team refuted Bodziak’s claim by saying that the single image had been doctored and was “probably fraud” to portray their client in a negative light and give the prosecution what many believe to be “the smoking gun.” > > > > During the Christmas recess of the civil case, Daniel Petrocelli [received an additional 31 images](http://www.nbcnews.com/id/5190480/ns/dateline_nbc-newsmakers/t/man-behind-simpson-guilty-verdict/#.Vug_zIR7WfQ) which shoed O.J. Simpson in Bruno Magli shoes. > > > > “So we called him back to the stand and we said, ‘Now Mr. Simpson, you said that this first photograph was doctored,” [Petrocelli remembers](http://www.nbcnews.com/id/5190480/ns/dateline_nbc-newsmakers/t/man-behind-simpson-guilty-verdict/#.Vug_zIR7WfQ). “'Are you saying the next one is doctored, and the next one?’ And we proceeded to show him picture after picture, until the jurors couldn’t even look at him anymore. And they started looking down at their shoes. And it was as obvious as it could possibly be that a witness was lying.” > > [The Shoes That Proved O.J. Simpson's Guilt | Highsnobiety](https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/oj-simpson-bruno-magli-guilty/) > > > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > > > Plenty of hearsay. > > Such as? Hearsay isn’t usually admissible, so I’m not sure what you possibly mean. > > > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > > > is the testimony of a proven liar who was subsequently convicted and imprisoned for perjury. I can’t trust anything he said. > > Again, your recollection of events is flawed. > > Fuhrman was never imprisoned. He got probation and paid a $200 fine. For lying about racist statements, not about planting any evidence. > > [FUHRMAN BARGAINS OUT OF JAIL TIME – Chicago Tribune](https://www.chicagotribune.com/1996/10/03/fuhrman-bargains-out-of-jail-time/) > > > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > > > Fuhrman had previously investigated OJs violence towards his wife. He knew the history very well. When she turned up dead, he had every reason to select OJ as prime suspect. > > That’s quite a leap to “he decided to frame him _before_ even knowing if it was even _remotely_ plausible to do so”. > > This wasn’t a decision made after the investigation was nearly complete, as some sort of “nudge” towards a conviction. You are claiming that he framed OJ **before even knowing if he was in town**. > > Furman may have been a liar. He may have been a racist. But he wasn’t stupid. > > > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > > > Fuhrman had already selected OJ as his suspect. He knew that OJ couldn’t have an alibi, because he knew that OJ was guilty. > > What if the man was giving a speech to a room full of people at that very moment, in some ballroom in another state? ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2024, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-simpson-has-died/1000157/108 "2024-04-11T23:27:45Z")
Remember the schadenfreude when he was sentenced to 33 years for the Las Vegas robbery (eligible for parole in 9, and paroled in just shy of 9 IIRC)? It felt like they were throwing the book at him, in a way they might not have for another similar robbery where the perpetrator had not previously obviously and literally gotten away with murder. I get that ordinary lowlifes do 9 years for robbery all the time, but celebs generally don’t. This represented a small amount of a very rough sort of justice to my way of thinking, though they should have of course denied parole repeatedly. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2024, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-simpson-has-died/1000157/109 "2024-04-11T23:50:40Z")
OJ was banned from writing checks at the store I work at. Seriously. Our computer system has a master list of everyone who’s written a bad check at any of our locations going back to 1990 or so. One day I was running the customer service desk with nothing going on, so I started looking through the master list to find any names I might recognize, and it turns out that years ago he wrote a bad check for $100 and some change at our Reno location. I guess we don’t have to watch out for him any more. (We’ve also got Gary Ridgway in there, and a Donald Trump, but not the Donald Trump - this one’s middle initial is different.) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-simpson-has-died/1000157/110 "2024-04-12T00:00:13Z")
Let’s not forget the civil suit that followed the criminal trial. And its outcome-- my bold. > #### Civil trial > > In 1996, Fred Goldman and Sharon Rufo, the parents of [Ron Goldman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Goldman), and Lou Brown, father of [Nicole Brown](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicole_Brown) filed a [civil suit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_suit) against Simpson for wrongful death.[[417]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_trial_of_O._J._Simpson#cite_note-417) The [plaintiffs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plaintiffs) were represented by [Daniel Petrocelli](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Petrocelli) and Simpson by Robert Baker.[[418]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_trial_of_O._J._Simpson#cite_note-418) Presiding Judge Hiroshi Fujisaki did not allow the trial to be televised, did not [sequester](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_sequestration) the jury, and prohibited the defense from alleging [racism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism) by the [LAPD](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LAPD) and from condemning the crime lab.[[419]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_trial_of_O._J._Simpson#cite_note-419) The [physical evidence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_evidence) did not change but additional evidence of [domestic violence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_violence) was presented as well as 31 pre-1994 photos of Simpson wearing [Bruno Magli](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_Magli) shoes,[[420]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_trial_of_O._J._Simpson#cite_note-420) including one that was [published](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Published) 6 months before the murders, proving it could not be a [forgery](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forgery).[[421]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_trial_of_O._J._Simpson#cite_note-421) Results from a [polygraph](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygraph) test that Simpson denied taking showed “extreme deception” when he denied committing the murders. Fuhrman did not testify but Simpson did on his own behalf and lied several times.[[422]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_trial_of_O._J._Simpson#cite_note-422) > > **The jury found Simpson [liable](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liable) for the murders** and awarded the victims’ families $33.5 million in compensatory and punitive damages.[[351]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_trial_of_O._J._Simpson#cite_note-usatoday30.usatoday.com-351) Simpson filed for [bankruptcy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bankruptcy) afterwards and relocated to [Florida](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida) to protect his [pension](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pension) from seizure. His remaining assets were seized and auctioned off with most being purchased by critics of the verdict of the criminal trial to help the plaintiffs recoup the costs of litigation. Simpson’s [Heisman Trophy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heisman_Trophy) was sold for $255,500 to an undisclosed buyer. All the proceeds went to the Goldman family who said they have received only one percent of the money that Simpson owes from the wrongful death suit.[[423]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_trial_of_O._J._Simpson#cite_note-423)[[424]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_trial_of_O._J._Simpson#cite_note-424) This citation is from Wikipedia, which presents a lengthy blow-by-blow account of the whole saga. > **[Murder trial of O. J. Simpson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_trial_of_O._J._Simpson)** > > The People of the State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson was a criminal trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court starting in 1994, in which O. J. Simpson, a former National Football League (NFL) player, broadcaster and actor, was tried and acquitted for the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. The pair were stabbed to death outside Brown's condominium in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles on the night of June 12, 1994. The trial spanned elev... ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-simpson-has-died/1000157/111 "2024-04-12T00:08:50Z")
> **Hid hijack of thread** > > > [@Moriarty](#): > > > > Except contaminated samples won’t produce such false positives. If the samples ere contaminated, they wouldn’t point to OJ. > > [Wrong](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_evidence_in_the_O._J._Simpson_murder_case). > > _The defense summarized their [reasonable doubt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reasonable_doubt) theory as “compromised, contaminated, corrupted”.[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_evidence_in_the_O._J._Simpson_murder_case#cite_note-2) They argued that, during the collection phase of [evidence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evidence_(law))-gathering, the evidence was compromised by mishandling and 100% of the DNA of the real killer was lost; and then contaminated during the processing phase, **with Simpson’s preserved DNA being transferred to all but three exhibits.** They alleged that the remaining three were corrupted as the police planted that blood evidence_. > > Get that? The samples were contaminated by accidentally transferring OJ’s DNA to the items. Thus the DNA match doesn’t prove a thing. > > > [@Moriarty](#): > > > > I’ve already addressed this. But I must ask for a cite that he had a “proven history of falsifying evidence”. I can’t find anything. > > This was a pretty big thing. He participated in various tape recorded conversations in which he stated that he had falsified probable cause. > > His most damaging statements were withheld from the jury for legal reasons that I don’t understand. > > [Fuhrman Tapes.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuhrman_tapes) > > > [@Moriarty](#): > > > > Such as? Hearsay isn’t usually admissible, so I’m not sure what you possibly mean. > > Yes, that’s the point. The hearsay evidence WAS excluded, and rightfully so. But you can see people in this thread complaining about the evidence that the jury didn’t see. > > > [@Moriarty](#): > > > > Fuhrman was never imprisoned. He got probation and paid a $200 fine. > > ignorance fought. > > > [@Moriarty](#): > > > > Furman … wasn’t stupid. > > cite? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-simpson-has-died/1000157/113 "2024-04-12T00:38:59Z")
Take this silly argument out of the thread. This is a serious hijack. @Peter_Morris **Moderating** ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-simpson-has-died/1000157/115 "2024-04-12T16:38:46Z")
If the Goldman family has not received all of the money they were awarded in the civil suit, do they have any claim on his estate? ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-simpson-has-died/1000157/116 "2024-04-12T17:38:10Z")
That’s a really good question. As I recall, certain assets were protected from the judgment—primary residence, pension, that kind of thing. The intention is that civil judgments shouldn’t leave someone destitute and on the street. Well, that’s no longer a concern. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-simpson-has-died/1000157/117 "2024-04-12T17:39:31Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > I take back some of the mean things I said about Prostate Cancer. It can do some good. Golf clap. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-simpson-has-died/1000157/118 "2024-04-12T17:56:58Z")
There is some poetic justice in an exemplar of toxic masculinity felled by a cancer in that particular gland. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-simpson-has-died/1000157/119 "2024-04-12T18:55:37Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > He did it. No question about it. It was absolutely clear from the evidence. BUT the jury was not permitted to see all of the evidence because Reasons. And many of them were furious after the trial that Judge Lance Ito (who _loved_ the spotlight) had withheld so much from them. Not to mention a racist _jury_. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-simpson-has-died/1000157/120 "2024-04-12T20:42:07Z")
The whole first trial was a mockery of the judicial process. A high school kangaroo court would have been run better. The judge, the jury, and the prosecutors in particular would have been funny if they weren’t so pathetic. The Marx Brothers would have made a better prosecutorial team than the one at Simpson’s first trial. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-simpson-has-died/1000157/121 "2024-04-12T21:57:39Z")
He was a bad man, but he did some good things. I think his Hertz commercial was the first mainstream commercial, aimed at a white audience, that featured a Black man. That was a step forward. And hey, he showed that a Black man who is rich and famous can get away with the same kind of judicial mockery that rich famous White guys get away with. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-simpson-has-died/1000157/122 "2024-04-12T22:02:20Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I think his Hertz commercial was the first mainstream commercial, aimed at a white audience, that featured a Black man. That was a step forward. [I heard a story on NPR yesterday that mentioned it.](https://www.npr.org/2024/04/11/1198911229/oj-simpson-trial-football-nicole-brown-ronald-goldman) > The Hertz campaign, which ran for years, was one of the first times an American audience saw a Black spokesperson for a major national company. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-simpson-has-died/1000157.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-simpson-has-died/1000157.md?page=7)