OJ Simpson’s connection with the Kardashian family began before his infamous trial, when he was considered a close friend of the family and an „uncle“ by Kim Kardashian and her sisters.
O.J. Simpson had a long-standing relationship with the Kardashian family, well before Robert Kardashian joined his defense team for the infamous murder trial.
Simpson was long-time friends with Robert, the father of Kourtney, Kim, Khloe and son Robert. They later became household names thanks to their reality series, „Keeping Up with the Kardashians.“
According to Slate, Simpson and Kardashian first met in college in 1967 at the University of Southern California, then became closer three years later after meeting at a mutual friend’s tennis court.
The outlet also reported that through Robert, Simpson met his business manager, Leroy „Skip“ Taft, who helped him transition from NFL star to Hollywood personality.
Kardashian met and married Kris (born Kristen Mary Houghton), and their friend Simpson met Nicole Brown while she was a waitress at The Daisy in Beverly Hills, marrying her in 1985 after divorcing his first wife, Marguerite.
„Nicole brought O.J. a lot of happiness — you could see it. She lit up his life,“ Kris told Slate in 2016. „They were golden together.“
The foursome were close and began starting families. In her 2011 memoir, „Kris Jenner … and all things Kardashian,“ Kris wrote that Simpson came to visit her and Robert in the hospital after the birth of their first daughter, Kourtney.
Simpson had two children with Nicole, Sydney and Justin. He was also a father to three children with ex-wife Marguerite, Arnelle, Jason and Aaren.
In a 2009 interview with Howard Stern, Kim recalled, „Every spring break we would go to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico“ with Nicole.
Khloe added in the same interview she remembered Nicole being „incredibly sweet.“
In a 2009 episode of „E! True Hollywood Story,“ Khloe recalled, „O.J. was always our Uncle O.J., Nicole was my Auntie Nicole.“
Robert and Kris divorced in 1991. A year later, in 1992, Nicole and O.J. divorced, following a documented history of abuse from the „Naked Gun“ star. Kris noted in her memoir that had known that Nicole had been struggling in her marriage to Simpson, but hadn’t wanted to overstep, so she never asked about it, „which would become one of [her] biggest regrets.“
In 1994, Simpson was arrested for the murder of Nicole and waiter Ron Goldman and enlisted Robert to be part of his legal team, putting a major strain on the once-friendly exes and their children.
The FX series „American Crime Story: The People vs O.J. Simpson“ depicted a scene in which Simpson threatened to kill himself in Kim’s bedroom at Robert’s house.
Many assumed the scene to be complete fiction, but in a 1996 interview on „20/20“ with Barbara Walters, Robert stated that Simpson had indeed been in Kim’s room with a gun, looking at photos of Nicole and his children.
He told Walters he had prayed with Simpson after he threatened suicide, and Robert begged him not to, saying, „I could never walk in this room, my daughter couldn’t sleep in this bed. She’d know what happened.“
On „The Late Late Show with James Corden,“ Khloe said it was actually her room, not Kim’s, where Simpson’s suicide threat happened.
