WASHINGTON — O.J. Simpson, the fallen football hero who was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife and her friend, died Wednesday after a battle with cancer, his family announced in a statement Thursday morning.
What cancer did O.J. Simpson have?
Simpson revealed last May that in "really recent years" he had been diagnosed with cancer and underwent chemotherapy treatment.
In a video posted on X, formerly Twitter, he shared that he was "healthy now."
"It looks like I beat it, I'm happy about that," Simpson said.
Earlier this year, a local TV station in Las Vegas reported that Simpson had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and was again undergoing chemotherapy.
Responding to the station's reporting, Simpson denied that he was in hospice care - but did not confirm or deny any new cancer diagnosis.
In his last video on X two months before his death, Simpson said his health was good but he was "dealing with some issues."
While Simpson's family confirmed he died after a cancer battle, the statement did not specifically say which type.
Simpson’s gridiron legacy was forever overshadowed by the 1994 knife slayings of Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. A criminal court jury found him not guilty of murder, but a separate civil trial jury found him liable for the killings.
Fred Goldman, the father of Ron Goldman, spoke with 12News in Phoenix and responded to news of Simpson's death.
“It’s a reminder of how long Ron has been gone and how much we miss him,” Goldman said.
Still shadowed by the California wrongful death judgment, Simpson in 2007 led five men he barely knew into a confrontation with two sports memorabilia dealers in a cramped Las Vegas hotel room. Two men with Simpson had guns. A jury convicted Simpson of armed robbery and other felonies.
Imprisoned at age 61, he served nine years in a remote northern Nevada prison, including a stint as a gym janitor. He was not contrite when he was released on parole in October 2017. The parole board heard him insist yet again that he was only trying to retrieve sports memorabilia and family heirlooms stolen from him after his criminal trial in Los Angeles.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.