Main content

The Life and Death of OJ Simpson

The defendant in the ‘trial of the century’ dies of cancer aged 76.

Orenthal James Simpson, known to the world as OJ, lived many lives. First as one of the greatest ever running backs in the history of the NFL, then as a Hollywood movie star.

His fame skyrocketed, however, when he was arrested as a suspect in the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman. The ensuing ‘trial of the century’ gripped and divided the nation.

As the news broke, the team interrupted their normal recording to relive the shocking events of his life, trial, and acquittal. Anthony, who was then living in LA, recalls the backdrop of racial tension that underpinned the murder case that gripped the US.

HOSTS:
* Marianna Spring, disinformation and social media correspondent
* Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter
* Anthony Zurcher, North America correspondent

GET IN TOUCH:
* Join our online community: https://discord.gg/qSrxqNcmRB
* Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480
* Email Americast@bbc.co.uk
* Or use #Americast

Find out more about our award-winning “undercover voters” here: bbc.in/3lFddSF.

US Election Unspun: Sign up for Anthony’s new 鶹 newsletter: /news/world-us-canada-68093155

This episode was made by George Dabby with Rufus Gray, Catherine Fusillo, and Claire Betzer. The technical producer was Emma Crowe. The series producer is George Dabby. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

Release date:

Available now

18 minutes

Featured

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • .

Podcast