Following the death of O.J. Simpson, the family members of the former NFL star are expected to be given their inheritance, and it has emerged that Simpson specifically warned his heirs that they must not fight over anything in his will.
Simpson, who was also known as “The Juice,” died last week from cancer, according to his family. In a post to social platform X on Thursday, the family said the 76-year-old had passed away surrounded by his children and grandchildren. “On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer. During this time of transition, his family asks that you please respect their wishes for privacy and grace,” the post read.
Simpson was born in San Francisco, California, in 1947. He started his professional football career with the Buffalo Bills in the late 1960s and was traded to the San Francisco 49ers before the 1978 season. He retired from the NFL in 1979.
In 1994, Simpson was arrested and charged with the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman. After a trial that captivated a national audience, he was acquitted, but he was later found liable for Brown Simpson’s and Goldman’s deaths in a civil suit brought by the victims’ families and he was ordered to pay $33.5 million in damages.
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Following his death, Simpson’s four children, Justin, Sydney, Jason, and Arnelle are expected to inherit their father’s estate and other assets. In his last will and testament, obtained by Newsweek, he warned that if anyone seeks to fight over any assets or change any part of the “provisions of this will” then that beneficiary will only get $1.
“I specifically desire that this Will as set forth herein without litigation or dispute of any kind. To that end, if any beneficiary hereunder, any person on behalf of any beneficiary, any heir or other successor-in-interest of any beneficiary, or any other person, seeks to establish or assert any claim to the assets of this Will, or attack, oppose or seek to set aside the administration and distribution of this Will, have this Will declared null, void or diminished, or to defeat or change any part of the provisions of this Will, such beneficiary, heir or other person shall receive, free of trust, one dollar and no more in lieu of any claimed interest in this Will or its assets,” the document stated.
Simpson’s will was signed on January 25. On Sunday, Malcolm LaVergne, a lawyer who represented Simpson, said the former NFL star’s body will be cremated in the coming days, and that there are no plans to have his brain donated to science.
Newsweek reached out to LaVergne via an online form for comment.
The ex-football player spent nine years in prison following a separate case. He was arrested in 2007 after he and other men stole collectibles from a Las Vegas hotel room that sports memorabilia dealers were staying in. In 2008, he was found guilty of 12 charges, including armed robbery and kidnapping, and he was later sentenced to nine to 33 years in a Nevada state prison, but he was released in 2017 after serving the minimum sentence.
About two months before his death, Simpson was seen in a video posted to X on February 11, which was Super Bowl Sunday, sitting in the sunshine by a pool in a 49ers football jersey and Titleist golf hat.
“What a beautiful day it is here in Las Vegas,” he said. “Let me take a moment to say thank you to all the people who’ve reached out to me. My health is good. Obviously, I’m dealing with some issues but hey, I think I’m just about over it and I’ll be back on that golf course hopefully in a couple of weeks.”
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.