How OJ Simpson Reacted When 1 of His Kids Talked About Their Mother’s Murder
NFL star OJ Simpson became one of the world’s most controversial celebrities after being tried for his late wife’s murder. Simpson was officially deemed not guilty in the historic 1995 trial, but his innocence was called into question by the court of public opinion.
Simpson fathered two children with his late wife. And as his kids grew older, one of them gave insight into how he dealt with the controversy surrounding his family.
OJ Simpson’s response to his son’s interview about Nicole Brown Simpson
The late Simpson was a father to five children, two of which he shared with Nicole Brown. Their daughter Sydney Brooke was born in 1985, and their son Justin was born two years afterwards in 1988. Sydney and Justin lived a life outside of the spotlight.
At the time, Simpson shared that he wasn’t opposed to talking about Nicole Brown’s murder with his kids. But after consulting top psychologists, he was told to wait until his children were ready to talk about the situation. Every now and then, however, reports have surfaced about Sydney and Justin opening up about their mother’s fate in rare interviews.
According to Bossip, an insider allegedly claimed that Sydney did think Simpson murdered Nicole. But she wasn’t willing to turn on her own father despite her suspicions.
“Sydney still believes that her father murdered her mother, but she wants to make peace with him and tell him that she forgives him,” the source claimed. “She said, ‘Murderer or not, he’s still my father and he’s the only parent I’ve got. I can’t abandon him.’”
Justin Simpson was quoted as saying that he’d revisit his mother’s murder in his head every once in a while. But his response was always to push through his feelings and get on with life.
“From time to time, I think about it. But I just have to get it through my system when it comes into my mind. Then I just move on,” Justin once told The Miami Herald (via NBC).
Simpson seemed to understand Justin’s response, which he claimed was very much in line with how Justin handled most of his issues.
“No, Justin tends — he’s a remarkable kid in that even when he’s got other things on his mind, he has a tendency to turn it inward. And he’ll go to his room and do what he has to do. And you know, quite often, I’ll say, ‘What’s on your mind? What’s going on? Did something happen in school today?’ Or maybe he split up with his girlfriend or something. He’s always pretty reluctant to get into it. He says, ‘Oh, Dad, I’ll be all right. Just leave me alone. I’ll be all right,’” Simpson recalled.
OJ Simpson explained how his kids adjusted to their mother’s murder
According to Simpson, his kids had as much of a normal upbringing as they could given the circumstances. He provided insight into what his and Nicole Brown’s kid Sydney was like during her adolescent years.
“Well, she’s terrific,” Simpson said. “You know, gets somewhat emotional at times. But bright as all get-out. She was accepted at virtually every school she applied to. And she picked a real fine, you know, northeastern university to attend.”
The late football star seemed as proud of Sydney as he was of Justin, who seemed to be as athletic as his father was back in the day.
“I’ve often said he’s the finest kid I’ve ever known. He really is. He is well-liked. He participates at his school in all sports: lacrosse, basketball, football,” Simpson added.
But at the time, Justin didn’t seem to share Simpson’s sole passion for Football.
“One year he’s a running back. Next year he’s a linebacker. Then, see, I don’t think his heart is in the football that much. I wouldn’t be surprised if he decides in the near future that he wants to focus more in the summer going to lacrosse camp or basketball camp. Those two sports seem to be sports that he really loves. And he’s a terrific honors student. And he’s just– he’s a terrific kid,” he said.
As far as talking about their mother was concerned, Simpson confided that they’d share stories and memories about Nicole Brown regularly.
“Well, Nicole will come up in conversations where it’s in a part of the conversation. Or we may be somewhere and I would tell some story about their mother and I,” he said. “You know, we always honor her birthday. And it’s generally, you know, kids don’t look back. Like you say, memories may fade. Kids tend to look forward. And my kids, you know, you don’t know psychologically what might surface years from now. But at this point, they both seem to have handled it pretty well.”
But when it came to the actual topic of Nicole Brown’s murder, that was the one thing the family never approached.
“Something we’ve never really spoke about,” Simpson said.
OJ Simpson didn’t worry about his kids ever turning on him
There were many people in the world who still believed that Simpson was ultimately guilty. During the interview, Simpson was asked if he ever thought about his kids also questioning his innocence in the future. But Simpson asserted that he never concerned himself with that kind of potential fallout. And if that ever did occur, he was prepared to handle it.
“It’d be a waste of time. I doubted that would ever happen. I know my kids know me. And if they did, I would have to deal with it at that time. I certainly don’t waste time worrying about it,” he said.
