Former NFL star O.J. Simpson is dead at 76 after a battle with cancer, according to his family.
O.J. Simpson, the decorated football superstar and Hollywood actor who was acquitted of charges he killed his former wife and her friend but was found liable in a separate civil trial, has died. He was 76.
The family announced on Simpson's official X account that he died Wednesday of prostate cancer.
"On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer. He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren. During this time of transition, his family asks that you please respect their wishes for privacy and grace," the statement said.
Ron Goldman's father Fred Goldman told NBC News in a statement that Simpson's death only serves a reminder of the death of his son, who was stabbed to death along with Nicole Brown Simpson outside her home on June 12, 1994.
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"The only thing I have to say is it’s just further reminder of Ron being gone all these years," Goldman said in a phone interview. "It’s no great loss to the world. It’s a further reminder of Ron’s being gone."
Reactions also poured in from across the entertainment industry and beyond, with comments varying from mourning to apathy.
Attorney Alan Dershowitz, who served as an advisor on Simpson's legal defense team in the double murder trial, alongside the late Johnnie Cochran and Robert Kardashian, told NBC News that he was saddened by news of Simpson's death.
"I knew he was very sick, so I'm upset that he died," Dershowitz said. "I got to know him fairly well during the trial. It was one of the most divisive trials in American history along racial lines. He'll always be remembered for the Bronco chase, for the glove and for the moment of acquittal."
Pro Football Hall of Fame President Jim Porter said he was the first player to reach a record many thought couldn't be attained when he topped 2,000 yards in a 14-game season.
Caitlyn Jenner, who was previously married to Kris Jenner, the former wife of Robert Kardashian, who was on Simpson's defense team, didn't mince words in her short statement posted on X.
Hall of Fame offensive lineman Joe DeLamielleure, who was Simpson's teammate in Buffalo, called him a "groundbreaker."
“I’m sad because, when people die you go `Oh, God, that’s terrible.’ But what happened to him, and maybe he brought it upon himself, but he was an icon in the nation," DeLamielleure told the AP. "And he meant a lot (to) people doing those commercials. He did a lot for the Black race even though he didn’t know it. He wasn’t Muhammad Ali or anything, but he was doing things for athletes and not just Black athletes, but he kicked us into a really big thing. That’s what I think of him. He was a groundbreaker.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
