The Juice is Loose: OJ Simpson General Discussion

[Aethera]

A place to talk about OJ himself - what did you think about him then? Do you remember those Hertz commercials? Have you watched Naked Gun recently? What do you think of his life since the trial?

[Kromm]

Well for the present it's more like The Juice is Caged.

Not for long though. He was granted parole back in 2013 for his robbery charges and only is still in jail because the sentences of the weapons crimes he was also charged with required another 4 years before he was eligible for parole for those. So in 2017 he's likely to get out, assuming they follow the pattern of paroling him on each charge as soon as he's eligible.

[Anela]

Re: the discussion in the episode thread.

 

I knew who he was, but just barely. I grew up in England, and we moved back over here in 1990. I knew the commercials, and the Naked Gun movies (again, just barely at this point - my memory used to be so good, and now it's awful). I've never been a football fan, so I wasn't enamoured with him. 

[Umbelina]

Here's OJ.  Although I wasn't interested in football when OJ played, I did start watching after the 49ers won the playoff, so I do remember listening to him do football commentary.  I knew him from shows like this, or football/Olympic commentary, not his movies.  Definitely his Hertz commercials though, they were everywhere.  This was 1989, the same year he beat Nicole badly enough that AC took her to the hospital.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXkNEQqTdIk

 

A history of OJ, from the beginning, including childhood, the superstar status, his divorce from Margarite while she was pregnant, and later Hertz, etc. 

 

May as well add The OJ Tapes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhmJZHDh1gg

 

The best part of these tapes is seeing OJ have to testify in the civil trial deposition.  It wasn't shown on TV, and I never saw this special before, so I hadn't seen them.  It also shows how close the Kardashians' were to The Simpsons.  The tall daughter is still being talked of as OJ's love child with Kris BTW.  No idea there.

Edited February 12, 2016 by Umbelina

[Kromm]

Re: the discussion in the episode thread.

 

I knew who he was, but just barely. I grew up in England, and we moved back over here in 1990. I knew the commercials, and the Naked Gun movies (again, just barely at this point - my memory used to be so good, and now it's awful). I've never been a football fan, so I wasn't enamoured with him.

Heh. I think the "I grew up in England" is as far as we need to go in that!

I mean it's a bit much to expect American football stars to be known by a population that barely paid attention to the sport until the last few years.

[Umbelina]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYK4QvX26JE

 

OJ unedited, full interview for money.

 

I haven't found the full documentary or his civil deposition referred to and briefly shown in the above 20/20 video.  I'd like to see those.  I don't think I'll watch much of this, but it does show his ego, his looks, and his voice at the time, and thus, why Cuba just isn't right for this part, even though I think Cuba's acting is good, he doesn't possess the voice, presence, size needed for this role.

 

ETA

If you believe he's innocent, you will like this one. 

 

Near the end they have him walking around the property of Rockingham, sort of interesting.

Edited February 12, 2016 by Umbelina

[larapu2000]

I was 15 when the murders happened, and I didn't really know who OJ Simpson was.  My parents did, though.  And so did every single guy I went to high school with that proclaimed his innocence.  We even had in depth discussions during class about the trial and a lot of guys would use the argument that just because you beat up your girlfriend doesn't mean you would kill her.  It's kind of awesome how far we've come in over 20 years about perception of domestic violence and its victims.  Most of those guys, however, changed their tune when the DNA testimony started.  

[FuriousStyles]

I was about 7 at the time of the murders. I have no recollection of OJ as being anything other than the centerpiece of "The Trial of the Century". I said in one of the other treads that while im watching a football game and the annoucers bring up OJ in passing describing something he did on the field or one of his records I literally cringe every single time because the first thing that comes to mind when I hear his name are the murders.

[Kromm]

I wonder if the "I had no idea who he was" factor would be higher or lower with Robert Blake and/or Phil Spector than it somehow (surprisingly to me) seems to be with the young-uns here, and OJ!

[Lorna Mae]

Slightly OT: I was 10 when John Lennon was murdered. First thing I said when my mom told me was, "Did they know it was him?" My mom's head exploded, but to me, it was a valid question. All I knew about Lennon was, he was an ex-Beatle, the Beatles were super rich, and this happened in NYC. I also knew that in NYC, people could be killed for a dollar, so my take on it was, Lennon had been seen as just any rich guy getting out of a limo, and the shooter was after his wallet without caring who he was. Of course, not the case.

Topic: When I first heard that "O.J. Simpson's wife" had been killed, without mention of her being his ex or of Ron Goldman, that's also what I thought. "Someone tried to rob the house, and killed her because she was a witness. Boy, I feel sorry for him/them when O.J. gets ahold of them." Hoo boy.

[vibeology]

It's hard for me to remember for sure because being 8 I know there's a very real chance that I'm filling in gaps after the fact, but I remember not really knowing much about the murders until the Bronco chase took over TGIF. I knew who OJ was because my Dad liked the Naked Gun movies and we'd rented them before, but I don't think I knew that he was a football player at all.

[Jel]

I wonder if OJ was able to compartmentalize the murder so much that he came to genuinely believe he didn't do it. That it was just a dream he had or something.

 

I do think, in so many ways, this case was about race though. The fact that so many people were able to believe that the LAPD set him up, planted evidence and collaborated to set him up speaks volumes. One more consequence of racism -- you cannot treat an entire group of people unfairly for years and years and then expect there to be no legacy.  You can't be all "Ok, so forget whatever happened in the past, we're not doing that anymore and so we're good now, right?" and expect the people who were victims of it to feel and react the same way; they are the ones with the scars.

 

ETA: I think this is the thing that White people don't really get. 

Edited February 12, 2016 by Jel

[charmed1]

I remember being fascinated by Marguerite Simpson once the facts about how OJ and Nicole started screwing around with each other came to light. I was really captivated by how beautiful she was. For her not to go full on Brenda Richie or Enid Jackson on either of them is admirable in itself. I was just a teenager, but I was really bothered by how every description of Nicole was "his beautiful blonde wife." And Marguerite was just "his first wife." She had to be incredibly strong to testify on his behalf after how his dirty ass treated her. Probably for her own children's sake. The older Simpson children were treated as afterthoughts and even suspects in this circus. I remember her saying that she would've put a frying pan to OJ's head if he ever touched her.

[psychoticstate]

I wasn't a football fan so I only knew Simpson from the Naked Gun.  Really didn't know much else about him or Nicole.  When the murders happened I was in school and we used the case to study.  It was fascinating.  Originally I had no thoughts on his guilt or innocence; I only began to question it with the so-called suicide note and the slow speed chase.  I felt an innocent person would not run and/or kill themselves, especially one with young children.  Learning of the evidence only cemented my belief in his guilt and the performance put on at the trial . . . good Lord.

 

Jel, I think the case became about race but it should not have been.  It was a domestic abuse case that turned into murder.  Simpson had been abusing Nicole for years, with a gradual progression.  She knew he was going to kill her, which is terribly sad.  She told her friends and even said that he would get away with it because he's O.J.  It's disgusting that she was right. 

 

I do agree and understand there's a legacy to racism (or any other horrible act) but when do we heal?  There has always been unfairness, ugliness and evil in the world and I hate to say there always will be.  Are we supposed to understand and go along with attorneys or a jury who argue racism in any case, whether racism is at play or not?  Should a murderer walk because of the color of his or her skin or that of the victims? 

 

If race is the legacy of the Simpson case, what exactly does that say for us as people?  That we will play tit-for-tat with persons' lives?  And I'm not just speaking of Simpson, in this case, but also for the victims' families who did not get the justice of seeing their loved ones' killer incarcerated for murder.  I understand what happened for years to the black race was despicable and there was no excuse and it most certainly culminated with Rodney King.  I was in LA, I remember the horror and the emotions.  But turning the Simpson case into a racial issue and possibly acquitting the defendant as some sort of payback was no way to right that wrong. 

[MyPeopleAreNordic]

I was 11 at the time of the murders. I kind of knew who OJ was....he was a football star and in "Naked Gun." But that's it.

At the time, I guess I was too young to realize how VERY good looking OJ was. I was looking through some stuff about the trial and came across lots of pics of OJ smiling with fans and family before the murders. He had a beautiful smile, nice physique (lots of women are attracted to the broad shoulders, slim waist he and other athletes have, plus his height), and he has perfectly symmetrical facial features. I think part of the reason he was so likable and that many people at first didn't want to believe he did it was not only the nice guy persona, but how attractive he was. Society (male and female) likes pretty people. While I was looking through the photos, I had the thought "what a shame that such handsome man was a wife-beating murderer." (Then I was kind of disgusted by myself for lamenting this fact and reminded myself of how gruesome the crime was.)

I wasn't bothered by CGJ's performance until I looked at those old pics of OJ. Not only is CGJ not his size, he's nowhere near as beautiful as OJ was. I'm not saying CGJ is a bad looking guy. He's not. But OJ was a downright beautiful man.

Edited February 13, 2016 by MyPeopleAreNordic

[MargotWendice]

I remember being fascinated by Marguerite Simpson once the facts about how OJ and Nicole started screwing around with each other came to light. I was really captivated by how beautiful she was. For her not to go full on Brenda Richie or Enid Jackson on either of them is admirable in itself. I was just a teenager, but I was really bothered by how every description of Nicole was "his beautiful blonde wife." And Marguerite was just "his first wife." She had to be incredibly strong to testify on his behalf after how his dirty ass treated her. Probably for her own children's sake. The older Simpson children were treated as afterthoughts and even suspects in this circus. I remember her saying that she would've put a frying pan to OJ's head if he ever touched her.

Marguerite was beautiful and clearly wanted to stay out of the limelight. I think their marriage was over long before he met Nicole, even though he wasn't legally divorced yet. M said he was never abusive to her but I wonder. I think black women are less likely to report domestic violence because they know how black men will be treated in the criminal justice system. There are many accounts that he was horrible to her when their daughter drowned, although it is probably unfair to judge someone's response to such a horrible event. I am talking like I know these people--I have been reading up on of this case too much.  ;-)

[Umbelina]

Marguerite was beautiful and clearly wanted to stay out of the limelight. I think their marriage was over long before he met Nicole, even though he wasn't legally divorced yet. M said he was never abusive to her but I wonder. I think black women are less likely to report domestic violence because they know how black men will be treated in the criminal justice system. There are many accounts that he was horrible to her when their daughter drowned, although it is probably unfair to judge someone's response to such a horrible event. I am talking like I know these people--I have been reading up on of this case too much.  ;-)

I thought she was pregnant while he was with Nicole.

 

Timeline:  http://www.cnn.com/US/OJ/suspect/bio/

 

June 1977

    Nicole Brown, a recent high school graduate, meets Simpson at the restaurant where Nicole is working as a waitress.

October 1978

    Simpson separates from Marguerite Simpson, his first wife.

August 18, 1979

    Aaren Simpson, O.J. and Marguerite's infant daughter, drowns in pool at Rockingham.

February 2, 1985

    Wedding of O.J. Simpson and Nicole Brown.

 

Nicole and OJ were pretty much together from VERY shortly after they met.

[Anela]

Heh. I think the "I grew up in England" is as far as we need to go in that!

I mean it's a bit much to expect American football stars to be known by a population that barely paid attention to the sport until the last few years.

I'd lived here again for four years, at that point. ;) So I would have been more exposed to him through the media. And he was known a little bit over there, probably through the movies. 

[Isabella15]

 

MyPeopleAreNordic: I had the thought "what a shame that such handsome man was a wife-beating murderer." (Then I was kind of disgusted by myself for lamenting this fact and reminded myself of how gruesome the crime was.)

 

You certainly aren't the only one!  In one of the recent OJ documentaries about the civil trial, attorney Dan Petrocelli said that when he first met OJ, he really liked him and wanted to engage and talk football with him-- and then immediately felt embarrassed by that.  There's no denying that the guy knew how to be charming and get people to like him. Ted Bundy and other High Functioning Sociopaths have the same traits.

 

OJ in the civil trial depositions was so different from his public persona, that it was pretty shocking.  Watching him answer questions when confronted with the evidence, was when I really saw how he could kill two people in such a brutal way.  The arrogance, narcissm and rage behaviors were plainly there. 

 

And his reaction when they showed him all the photographs of himself wearing the Bruno Magli shoes was stunning.  He went into denial right away, but that initial shock he displayed was caught on tape.  It's ironic but the deposition shows what a good actor OJ actually was.  

 

 

[Dejana]

Here's an interview with O.J. from People Magazine's archives, from the issue dated October 17, 1977. The whole thing is an interesting time capsule of his personality and fame at that point, but these quotes stood out in particular:

"I am materialistic," declares Orenthal James Simpson, flashing the megawatt grin that has made him America's best-known TV rent-a-jock. "I value money. I value my home. I do not like credit. I want to own things." To finance his formidable appetites O.J., who turned 30 last July, is scrambling as hard off the football field as on.

At the base of the burgeoning Simpson empire is, of course, football. "I never doubted at any time that I would be a big, successful football player," boasts the 1968 Heisman Trophy winner, who went on to set 10 NFL records in nine years with the Buffalo Bills and become the first in the league to gain more than 2,000 yards in a season. His contract with Buffalo, reportedly worth $2.5 million, expires after next year. "I have 26 more games to play," says O.J., "and football will be behind me forever. Then I'll be in Hollywood."

As a member of several juvenile gangs, Simpson was arrested three times and actually spent about six hours in jail. "I learned one thing—I never wanted to go back." At that point Willie Mays of the baseball Giants, who had heard of O.J.'s athletic achievements in school, invited him to spend a day in Mays' palatial home. From then on, Simpson unleashed his considerable energies on the playing field, conscious finally of what rewards they could bring.

"I sit in my house in Buffalo and sometimes I get so damn lonely it's unbelievable," O.J. admits. "Life has been so good to me. I got a great wife, good kids, money, my own health—and I'm lonely and bored. I'm saying, 'Juice, life really can be something.' I often wondered why so many rich people commit suicide. Money sure isn't a cure-all. That's why I throw on my jeans and try to stay loose."

At the time he'd just bought the house on Rockingham and the article mentions that he and Marguerite have three kids, Arnelle, Jason and Aeren, who'd just been born September 24 that year (she died about a month before her second birthday, in August 1979).

Also, OJ had just starred in a TV movie with Elizabeth Montgomery (yes, Samantha Stevens) where they played police partners in an interracial romance.

Edited February 13, 2016 by Dejana

[ennui]

"I want to own things."

 

I think this is why he (allegedly) killed Nicole.

[MargotWendice]

I thought she was pregnant while he was with Nicole.

 

Timeline:  http://www.cnn.com/US/OJ/suspect/bio/

 

Nicole and OJ were pretty much together from VERY shortly after they met.

I was going by this, and other stories: http://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/29/us/no-reports-of-violence-by-simpson-s-first-wife.html.

They split up multiple times starting in 1970. She filed for divorce back in 1973.  It seems like their marriage was in trouble for a long time before her met Nicole, despite Marguerite's third pregnancy. 

[charmed1]

I remember reading stories that Nicole would drive to Marguerite and OJ's house to pick him up. The marriage may have been over for him in his mind, but he was still very married and Nicole was aware of that.

[MargotWendice]

I remember reading stories that Nicole would drive to Marguerite and OJ's house to pick him up. The marriage may have been over for him in his mind, but he was still very married and Nicole was aware of that.

Which indicates it may well have been over in Marguerite's mind as well.

[charmed1]

...And exactly why they say how you get him is how you lose him, because he subsequently cheated on Nicole during his second marriage. OJ later said he regretted being unfaithful to both of them so he knew exactly what he was doing. He was a married man cheating on his wife with his mistress. No gray area for me.

[Isabella15]

Sounds like there was domestic trouble with OJ and his first wife as well, but it was kept under wraps. 

Never Before Told Story: Harvey Levin was a local CBS reporter when he covered the OJ trial.

 

He has lots of stories that haven't been widely heard, and he said this one is something

he's never discussed publicly: 

 

Sounds believable. 

[Dejana]

It could have been that the OJ/Marguerite marriage had broken down but they were still living in the same house (you see stars doing this now for the kids, though that's more of a modern conscious uncoupling mentality). Or, OJ going out with his future second wife right under his first wife's nose was the very thing that led to the final breakdown of his first marriage. Other women were clearly a problem in Marriage #1, which OJ addressed in that 1977 People interview:

 

While he professes to be "a family man—completely," O.J.'s long absences from home and the ever-present groupies put almost intolerable strains on their marriage. Marguerite, a Catholic convert, protested in 1974, "We have practically lost our private life. I have been shoved out of the way, pushed and stepped on by more than one beautiful woman. I admit I'm jealous." Explains O.J.: "I guess the price of fame was our biggest problem. I hope those things are behind us now. Every time you get over a hump, the marriage gets stronger. A few years ago we got over a hump."

 

But O.J. remains a visible, vulnerable target for women with a yen for pro athletes. He brings part of the problem on himself. "For the most part, I can live very cheaply," he says. "But if I'm in New York I love to dress up in a Pierre Cardin suit and silk shirt and go over to Régine's and flash my Cartier lighter. I learned that from Richard Burton. I don't smoke, but I work on these details—in case I play a David Niven type someday."

 

As for those groupies: "I guess any healthy, good-looking guy who's self-confident—and I'm certainly that—could conceivably get girls. Groupies would have been a problem in my youth, when I was more insecure and needed to prove something. Now that I'm older, let's say I'm more selective. My wife knows I'm under control."

 

 

I'm too young to remember OJ's football days but it's so strange for me to picture him taking the sort of acting roles he did, while still so active in the NFL. Usually star athletes who appear in movies or TVs are just cameo appearances or they're playing athletes very similar to themselves in bit parts, whereas OJ was in Roots and playing an interracial romance (a very controversial subject at the time) with Samantha from Bewitched. I can't even begin to picture the modern equivalent with a current NFL guy...Tom Brady and McDreamy play a couple in a Netflix movie? I guess back then there wasn't the sports media machine to make "he's not concentrating enough on the game!" into a perpetual story.

Edited February 13, 2016 by Dejana

[Umbelina]

I never really believed that OJ never smacked Margarite around.  It just doesn't make sense that it never happened.  As far as the cheating?  Oh hell yes, he cheated on his women all of his life, maybe Margarite accepted it for a longer time, but Nicole was very pissed off about it.

[ketose]

One of the other things OJ did to fill out his acting resume was HBO's 1st & Ten, where he basically played himself. I ended up watching the series in 2008 when it was available for $6 as a DVD set.

[kassa]

I think what's lost on younger people who weren't, say, already teenagers in the 70s, and adults at the time of the trial, is just how completely this came out of left field when it came to perceptions of OJ.

 

It was like hearing that Tom Hanks committed double homicide.  Tom Hanks?  WTF?

 

And you think, okay, yeah, I understand their suspecting the husband because that's natural, and they have to follow up, and he left town immediately, but they'll probably straighten it all out and hopefully they'll get the guy who really did it.

And then Tom Hanks goes on a 3 hour slow speed freeway chase and you start thinking... wow.  He must have done it!

 

And then you hear about the domestic violence and other stuff.  And maybe they had made the news in the past, but in those days you had to pick up a newspaper that covered it, or an issue of a magazine that mentioned it -- it wouldn't have been on the mainstream news, or Entertainment Tonight, and the world wide web is still in its infancy (I just looked it up - a year after the murders only 14% of adults used the internet.  Many fewer still took it as a news source.)

 

It's really hard to capture just how different a world it was.  

 

No offense intended to Tom Hanks -- was just trying to find somebody you'd be shocked to conceive capable of that sort of thing.  OJ was that universally popular.

Edited February 18, 2016 by kassa

[VanillaBeanne]

I remember OJ from his Naked Gun days and commercials (I remember watching first and 10 on HBO but don't remember him in it but I was pretty young). I totally agree with the Tom Hanks analogy.

I actually think kids today, even though the world is more jaded, still get a grasp of this dissonance with Bill Cosby. I grew up in the 80s and loved the Jeffersons, different strokes and the Cosbys, largely because they depicted blacks living just like affluent whites (hated good times and what's happening - yeah, I know, I had issues). I am a little older than Rudy and black, have a sister Vanessa's age and a brother Theo's age and a pretty mom like Claire and a dad who looked like a much better looking version of cliff. Needless to say, I strongly identified with that show and it took about ten or so accusers before I believed Cosby was guilty. My neices, who are 12 and 14, grew up watching Cosby reruns (and as aside, love crappy full house reruns). So I do think they are experiencing something comparable to OJ. Granted, Cosby was more beloved and wholesome, but on the flip side serial rape is less heinous than a vicious double murder.

I still have the Jeffersons. Pls don't taint that show for me.

Edited February 18, 2016 by VanillaBeanne

[kassa]

It's a weird legacy of both those men's crimes that I feel robbed that they've taken the Cosby Show and Naked Gun from me.    

 

I have so many Cosby show quotes I want to use and now feel weird about invoking. "Your mother and I are rich.  You have nothing."  "No 14 year old boy should have a $95 shirt unless he's on stage with his brothers."  "Don't you DARE open your mouth when I'm asking you a question!" "I'm not angry, I'm MAD!" 

 

I have fewer memories of OJ -- just remember thinking he was a great talk show guest, quick, funny, charming, gorgeous.  But that one scene in the Naked Gun, when he's shot/injured over and over again in a never ending sequence of awful things happening to him, and right in the middle of it he touches wet paint and goes "Awww" ... that's one of my favorite scenes in movie history just for sheer goofiness, and I haven't watched it since because I can't bear to think I won't enjoy it. 

 

And all of this is petty because, you know, serial rape and homicide.  But still.

[GHScorpiosRule]

It's a weird legacy of both those men's crimes that I feel robbed that they've taken the Cosby Show and Naked Gun from me.    

 

I have so many Cosby show quotes I want to use and now feel weird about invoking. "Your mother and I are rich.  You have nothing."  "No 14 year old boy should have a $95 shirt unless he's on stage with his brothers."  "Don't you DARE open your mouth when I'm asking you a question!" "I'm not angry, I'm MAD!" 

 

I have fewer memories of OJ -- just remember thinking he was a great talk show guest, quick, funny, charming, gorgeous.  But that one scene in the Naked Gun, when he's shot/injured over and over again in a never ending sequence of awful things happening to him, and right in the middle of it he touches wet paint and goes "Awww" ... that's one of my favorite scenes in movie history just for sheer goofiness, and I haven't watched it since because I can't bear to think I won't enjoy it. 

 

And all of this is petty because, you know, serial rape and homicide.  But still.

 

 

PREACH!  Though I was more of a Cosby Show (and Fat Albert, Jello, New Coke commercials) than the Naked Gun movies, though I did watch clips of the latter.

 

I can't bear to watch any of the Cosby Show episodes anymore, and I resent Cosby, because it was such a good and quotable show! Yes, yes, I know, Cosby isn't Cliff, but I can no longer separate the two.

 

As for OJ--I just knew he was an extremely charistmatic and good looking man, who was a former football player.  I was shocked when I saw he was a person of interest in Nicole and Ron's murders. Yes, there was another person besides Nicole who was killed that night. It continues to bug me, that those hyping and promoting this show, do so, thinking that Nicole was the only one murdered.

 

Anyhoo. I still didn't think he had anything to do with it. Then, the Bronco chase happened. And I remember feeling so, so bitter and angry. And convinced of OJ's guilt.

 

And now? When I saw his plea to the judge at his sentencing in Nevada? I saw a pathetic human being who finally got what was coming to him, and was glad that the judge wasn't star struck when she handed down the sentence.

[VanillaBeanne]

I didn't think OJ was that good looking 20 years ago (I guess I thought he was old and kind of balding) but now that I'm as old as he was at the time of the murders, I gotta say he really was handsome.

I watched the la criminal trial verdict on youtube last week and immediately followed up by watching the Nevada verdict. There's a nice sense of the world righting itself, watching the two. Nice seeing the Goldmans classy reaction to the Nevada verdict.

Edited February 18, 2016 by VanillaBeanne

[MyPeopleAreNordic]

I didn't think OJ was that good looking 20 years ago (I guess I thought he was old and kind of balding) but now that I'm as old as he was at the time of the murders, I gotta say he really was handsome.

I completely agree!

[elzin]

It's a weird legacy of both those men's crimes that I feel robbed that they've taken the Cosby Show and Naked Gun from me.   

I feel the same with  Mel Gibson. Sometimes I want to watch Signs or Lethal Weapon or Maverick, etc etc, and I'm consumed by a rage (which probably pales in comparison to his...) that I can't watch them and see the characters anymore. 

[VanillaBeanne]

Yep, Mel Gibson too. Although even 10 year old me knew Mel Gibson was hot.

He also had a wholesome rep, with the long marriage and Catholicism. I guess I still have Bono.

[kassa]

Oh, my - The Year of Living Dangerously.  The scene in the rain.  Ruined.

[charmed1]

Anybody remember Charlie Murphy's True Hollywood Stories? Of course the focus was on Rick, Prince and Eddie, but one of the funniest lines was Charlie recounting seeing OJ in the nightclub. "I remember saying, 'Wow that's OJ Simpson. He's got a big fucking head!'"

[ketose]

I'm wondering about Ron Goldman. Did anyone ever figure out his relationship to Nicole? I know in the pilot, Marcia Clark mocked him going to her house to return glasses. Were he and Nicole involved in a relationship? Was OJ just crazy with jealousy and assumed Ron was her boyfriend?

[Umbelina]

From reading around, including the RHBH thread and links there, and I can't site sources right now, here's what I remember, but I think it's mostly from Faye, so believe it or don't.

 

Ron had a crush on Nicole, but she didn't return the feelings.  However Nicole, Faye, and some guy had a threesome, and Nicole wanted to repeat that experience, and she'd approached at least one guy with that idea.  Supposedly, just minutes before died, she was giggling on the phone with Faye, and told her she was going to "try Ron out" basically an audition, to see if he'd be good enough to invite to the threesome.

Edited February 19, 2016 by Umbelina

[smiley13]

While she did not deserve to die, Nicole was no saint.  It looks like her relationship with OJ was toxic from the beginning.  She appears to have been a gold digger who latched onto the wealthy, handsome, MARRIED football star/actor.  

 

OJ was such a marketable football star.  He had all of the right stuff to continue as a star after his playing days.  That is why all of this was so stunning.

[MargotWendice]

While she did not deserve to die, Nicole was no saint.  It looks like her relationship with OJ was toxic from the beginning.  She appears to have been a gold digger who latched onto the wealthy, handsome, MARRIED football star/actor.  

 

OJ was such a marketable football star.  He had all of the right stuff to continue as a star after his playing days.  That is why all of this was so stunning.

Given that she was 18 and he was 29 when they met, I am not sure it is fair to call her a 'gold digger' who 'latched on to him'.

Any responsibility for the dissolution of his first marriage is squarely on him. It sounds like his first marriage was rocky for a long time given that Marguerite first filed for divorce in 1970. By many accounts he was never faithful to either wife.

Edited February 20, 2016 by MargotWendice

[Umbelina]

While she did not deserve to die, Nicole was no saint.  It looks like her relationship with OJ was toxic from the beginning.  She appears to have been a gold digger who latched onto the wealthy, handsome, MARRIED football star/actor.  

 

OJ was such a marketable football star.  He had all of the right stuff to continue as a star after his playing days.  That is why all of this was so stunning.

She was 18 years old.  HE pursued her, and no matter what she did, it doesn't justify him beating her, let alone murdering her.  I don't know if she was a gold digger when he saw her working at the restaurant, overwhelmed by fame, looks, and charm is more like it.  Gold diggers generally go for the old men, ugly but rich.  She never liked, not wore, expensive jewelry, and her usual outfits were mom clothes, jeans and running shoes.  She spent most of her time with her kids, and after they were divorced, she did go out dancing with friends sometimes, and did date.  She also begged OJ to stop cheating on her, and tried several times to save that marriage.

[Lura]

If you happen to know the answer, will you please tell me -- Will O.J. receive any money whatsoever from this drama?  THANK YOU to whomever posts a reply.

[Umbelina]

No.

[Epeolatrix]

OJ won't receive money from this drama.

[BW Manilowe]

As far as I know, neither OJ, nor the Brown or Goldman families/Nicole or Ron's estates will receive money from this. And I doubt any of the other real-life figures (Marcia Clark, Darden & the other prosecutors, the defense team, the cops AC Cowlings, Kato, Kardashian's estate, the [then] spouses who are depicted herein, etc.) are profiting as they weren't consulted either. At most, some--but not all--of the actors met the person they're portraying at some time before, during, or after production. But that wouldn't entitle the real-life participants a share of the profits; it was probably more of a "courtesy" thing.

[kassa]

Those who wrote books might see an uptick in sales, so some money from that direction.

[Epeolatrix]

Jeffrey Toobin for the series itself, since his is the book that was optioned, plus he serves as creative consultant for the series.

Edited February 22, 2016 by WertherEffekt