Wrestling With O.J. Simpson's Legacy and Infamy

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Listener Skip already emailed in Beat theopen of the show, said, my
drinker choice is a thirty two hourscup of Joe made in my French press
with South Bay coffee grounds. Ah. That's incredibly specific, Skip, but
uh, cheers to you too.I've heard French press really brings out the
flavor. What is it. Idon't know, but I've heard good things.

(00:22):
Eh. It's just a certain wayof brewing your coffee. Think it
takes a little bit more time,but it really gets a lot of that
flavor out of those beans. Ahthose beans. Eh, well, speaking
of beans. OJ Simpson dead atthe age of seventy six. That news
broke this morning. Let's go aheadand start with you, Matt Okay pop

(00:47):
quiz. OJ Simpson first became famouswhere for his football playing at usc There
you go and then where and thenhe went on to play for the Buffalo
Bills. Nice and then he retired. And then what happened? The juice
was on the loose running all overthat football field. And after he retired,

(01:10):
he did not retire from the limelight. He continued on to have a
fruitful movie career. He did,and he would show up on television shows
a fairly beloved figure. If Ido recall he did some broadcasting for football
games too. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, so I mean in the
eighties, I mean, this guywas just kind of like remember him.
He was an awesome player, butman, he's just kind of a lovable

(01:32):
guy. Yeah. And then Juneseventeenth, nineteen ninety four happened. Ah,
yes, the White Bronco. Yeah. Well, I mean there were
things that happened before that that somewould say was quite important to the story.
But yeah, sure, the WhiteBronco. It's a slow chase,
but it's getting a ton of attentionor helicopters following it. People all over

(01:53):
the country know that this is happening. Have you seen the thirty for thirty?
ESPN made the thirty for thirty documentary. I've heard good things, have
not seen it. Matt Case getout, read a book. Hey I
I do, and I get out. I would need to stay in to
see that, all right? Fairthirty for thirty Get the ESPN plus app.

(02:14):
It doesn't cost that much. It'slike five bucks add too much for
me. You are a cheap oand it's worth it for even this one
film to thirty for thirty available inthe ESPN Plus app, and it's called
June seventeenth, nineteen ninety four.You know what happened on June seventeenth,
nineteen ninety four. I know,you know what. Here's the thing.
I can close my eyes, Ican go back there because I lived it,

(02:36):
and I know exactly where I was, all right, where I was
at the Sunset Bowling Alley in yeold York, Nebraska. You're talking about
the chase celebrating my birthday, andup on the TVs were the right white
broncos. I had no idea why, and I didn't care, and nor
should you. You would probably havebeen under the age of ten at this

(02:57):
point, because my friends and Iwere having a great time bowling and you
were just like, why are theyshowing this car? Yeah? I was
like, what's the big deal?You probably didn't even know who J Simpson
was at this point. I honestlydon't think I did. Yeah, And
the sad thing is that, here'shere's the memory I'm having is that the
Knicks and the Rockets were playing inthe NBA Finals. During that they split

(03:21):
screen the finals, Yeah, toshow people on that channel. I think
it was NBC so NBC could alsocover that, but all the other channels
had it too. I mean,just a wild moment in the history of
the world. Yeah, and Imean not even that was going on the
NBA Finals, but the FIFA WorldCup in the United States kicked off.

(03:42):
The US had their first game thatday, or like the next morning or
something like that, Like the openingceremonies were happening in the US. I
know, soccer doesn't then, especiallydidn't carry the same kind of weight as
it might now, but I meanthat's a big deal. The last round
at the US Open for Arnold Palmer. It was his last round at the

(04:06):
US Open, an aging Arnold Palmeron that day in nineteen ninety four,
drinking lemonade and tea probably at somepoint, and and you know what else
was going on. Ken Griffy Juniorwas in the middle of trying to he
was making a play for the alltime home run record, which, of

(04:26):
course that baseball season would get struckout quite literally by the players in August
of that year and not be completed. But he was on a torrid pace.
Okay, there's all sorts of crazystuff going on during that day,
but this was the big thing.And then after that the trial, the
circus that was the OJ trial,the glove. Yeah, and I mean

(04:47):
there's another thirty for thirty that likeis multiple parts that goes through the trial
of OJ Simpson and it's it's fascinatingtoo, man, Okay. And then
you have after that acquitted and peopleare losing their minds one direction or another
about him being acquitted. And thenfast forward, you know, like for

(05:10):
the next you know, ten yearsor whatever, you have this whole thing
of like, oh boy, likethis guy, he's just bad news.
You know, he's not found guiltyof anything, but he's just bad news.
And then late aughts, the latetwo thousands, he's arrested for a
robbery and kidnapping to get memorabilia backor something in Las Vegas. And then
he does do jail time for that, and then he comes back and becomes

(05:31):
like a social media sensation on Twitter, Like he starts tweeting about football and
other things, and people are like, this is crazy that O. J.
Simpson is just tweeting. But todaywe learned from his family on his
Twitter account first and then reported andconfirmed by other outside sources that O.
J. Simpson passed away yesterday aftera bout with cancer at the age of

(05:54):
seventy six. So we're going totry, Matt and I to talk about
the legacy of this man, forgood and for bad, and probably more
for bad. But will Well,we have to wrestle with this because this
may be one of the most polarizingfigures in American history, and I want

(06:17):
to try to figure out where hebelongs and how we should remember a guy
like OJ Simpson and if there isany correlation or any comparable current person that
if they had what happened with Ojin nineteen ninety four, how stunning or
shocking that may be. We're goingto talk and debate about all this,

(06:39):
and you can join the conversation atfour oh two five five eight eleven ten.
Four oh two five five eight eleventen. It's news radio eleven ten
KFAB. You're listening to Emery Sonderon news radio eleven ten KFAB. This
is a fairly unique individual in thehistory of the world, but especially seen

(07:00):
American history, where the first halfof his life he certainly and maybe even
a little after that, he's seventysix. How old was he in nineteen
ninety four? How old is O? J. Simpson in ninety four.
That's thirty years ago, so hewould have been forty six. Yeah,
so into his mid forties. Iwould say fairly beloved. I wasn't there.

(07:24):
I don't know for sure. AllI know is from what I've seen
and what I've heard I say here, and I kind of you're wrestling with
the thirty years after that, whereno matter how famous or how well liked
he was, what happened in nineteenninety four, that there's a stain there

(07:46):
and all the evidence that we werebeing told, at least from the cheap
seats the Monday morning quarterbacks, ifyou will, this man is guilty and
he is going to go away fora very long time because he allegedly murder
two people. And then they acquittedhim. If the glove doesn't fit,

(08:07):
you must acquit or something like that. Yeah, and that glove didn't fit.
But did it or didn't it?Because nobody ended up being no,
they didn't find anyone else. Itwas a prime suspect for this, right,
Okay, it's just it's a mysteriousverdict. But even though he's acquitted,

(08:28):
most of society is like, thisguy did it anyway, and he's
a pariah of sorts for the nextfifteen years while the world like he loses
all the endorsements or he's not gettingput on TV anymore. Nobody wants to
talk to him about anything except tryingto, you know, fish around and
see if he's done anything. Andhe's willing to confess something or say something.

(08:54):
Didn't he write a book? Yeah, and then the book is basically
like, I didn't do it,but if I did do it, this
is how I would have done it. And a bunch of people bought the
book. I mean that was agutsy play. Yeah, it was,
wasn't that. After he got outof jail to the for the robbery of
the memorabilia place and the kidnapping,Let's see here. I mean, it's

(09:18):
not like he turned into an offthe beaten path on the streets, dealing
drugs, ordering hits on people kindof criminal. But this was not the
same man as he was the firstforty five years of his life, at
least in the public's eye. SoI have to ask, Matt, how

(09:41):
do we remember this guy? That'sthe first question. Is he O J.
Simpson the murderer? O J.Simpson the acquitted murder O J.
Simpson, the guy who wrote abook about a murder he allegedly didn't commit,
but we think he did, buthe was acquitted of O J.

(10:01):
Simpson. The Twitter follow like,how do you put all of what his
life was into a pot and comeout with like a a realistic eulogy?
I think you gotta you gotta throwa troll in there, because have you
seen the cover of that book.No, it's called it's technically called if
I did It? But the wordif, the word if is a tiny

(10:26):
little word that is inside the wordeyes and three big red letter, big
red letters I did it. Confessionsof the Killer, And you know,
I don't know. He was nevercharged and served any time for murder.
You know, so he was hewas acquitted. Yeah, okay, so

(10:48):
so I feel like that always hasto be part of the conversation. But
who else did it? Like you'resaying nobody else? There was no other
suspect. Let's there's a cold case, right, where's that cold case episode
where people are looking for no newclues? Well, that's the thing nobody
did because they think that they gotit wrong. How do you how do

(11:09):
you acquit the guy? Like inthat moment, How does a jury acquit
him? There's there's some really goodyou know, there's a several part TV
series that dives deep into the courtcase and dives is what it was like
to be on the jury in thatmoment. Okay, so stresses in the
pressures of that moment. Power rankingsO. J. Simpson, like every

(11:33):
episode of his life. You powerrank the order in which we have to
talk about if you talk about himrealistically, not chronologically, but power rank
the most important things as to likewhat what created this aura about what he
accomplished in life and the things thathe did well, everything that made him

(11:54):
an infamous I feel like far outshines and outweighs our intrigue on it.
Shine. Maybe it's not so what'snumber one? Number one? Who?
That's tough? Is it? TheWhite Bronco? That's what it has to
be, the Bronco. It hasto be. There hasn't been a moment
in American history quite like that oneright where we had an NBA Finals game

(12:16):
in the finals. This is thenineties. I know Jordan wasn't playing in
it, but could you imagine ifhe was. I mean, this is
the NBA Finals in a time wherethe NBA is thriving and they have to
split screen it to watch a whiteBronco being slowly chased by dozens of police
officers in California. It's wild stuff, man. Yeah, that has to

(12:39):
be number one, because it's theBronco, it's the glove, it's the
entire court case, which was anabsolute circus. I mean, day to
day there was wild stuff happening inthat court case. And then for him
to be acquitted after the fact,and then the racial divide in America where
a lot of African American people werehappy he was acquitted and never thought he
did it to begin with, anda lot of white people that how do

(13:01):
you not throw him in jail likehe obviously did it right, there was
that thing that happened, right,and then you have to go with this.
The actual arrest in jail time hedid serve has to factor into the
story as well, because that kindof shows you that this guy, it
wasn't just a one off thing withhim, like he was actually tried,

(13:22):
charged and was thrown in prison fora time because of a robbery and a
kidnapping that he was found guilty of. And then we can get to like
broadcasting, movies, football, allthe other Heisman Trophy, you know,
all that stuff. Right, whata crazy life. When we come back,

(13:48):
we got to start thinking about isthere a modern day O Jay that
if they did or something similar happenedin Nighttime ninety four with OJ, we
would be as surprised, as stunned, as captivated by the story as we
were with OJ. We'll try tocome up with some comps, and if

(14:09):
you want to throw yours in,you can call us a four oh two
five five eight to eleven ten fourh two five five eight eleven ten,
News Radio eleven ten kfab em MarieSonger on news Radio eleven ten kfab.
The question that we had was compsfor or comparables if you will, similar
people that before Tom Brady was beforeTom Brady, he was forty six.

(14:37):
OJ was forty six when the murdersof Nicole and Ron happened right by Tom
Brady. Not by Tom Brady,No, he was he was just a
young ladd as still at that pointhe's forty six. I'm thinking like middle
aged guy who hasn't done anything likenecessarily super duper wrong, like he might
have done a thing wrong or too, but was famous, generally liked by

(15:01):
people, it felt like, andthen all of a sudden, something so
out of left field happens and youjust can't believe it. You're stunned,
you're shocked. But then also Igot an email from somebody on the email
line. It was Renee Bill Clintonas like a comp as well, and
her she's like, Hey, thereason I would say Bill Clinton would be

(15:24):
you remember him probably more for MonicaLewinsky than you do anything else. So
like, even though he had accomplisheda lot that you could deem to be
positive for somebody in their legacy,the first thing that probably needs to be
mentioned is something that is negative.And that's a different conversation, but I
think it's one we could have too. We could also say that Bill Clinton

(15:46):
is quite the matchmaker. If thatwouldn't have happened with Monica Lewinsky, she
wouldn't have gotten into the public eye, which then she wouldn't have ended up
dating Tom Green for a short bit, and that is important to no one
but me and Tom Green. Probably. Yeah, well there's that. We'll
chat about that. But you canhave fun with this. I know this

(16:07):
is this guy's dead now, andthat's not fun at least for him.
But you know, you know,as we're talking about this might be the
last time ever that we talked aboutO. J. Simpson. I mean,
let's be honest, So let's justtry to figure out where he belongs
in history. And I want youto be a part of the conversation if
you want to be four O twofive five eight eleven ten four two five
five eight eleven ten. Rich ison a phone line. Rich, thanks

(16:30):
for the call today. What doyou think about it? Oh? Well,
as I was telling the person thatI spoke to answered my call,
it opens up so many different topicsthat we can go so many different directions,
But I prefer to take it ina positive direction. I feel depending

(16:52):
upon how people react to this,whether they care about it, don't care
about it, get upset, getup upset about it, or don't get
upset about it, will give usa general idea how things would be the
day after the elections in November,because no matter which way the elections go,
a group of people are not goingto be happy. During the OJ's

(17:15):
time, it put a strain onmany different relationships of different couples and friends,
and even with news reporters. Youcould tell some of them as they
were reporting the news how they feltand then when the outcome and the verdict
happened as to different things. ButI feel as far as how to explain

(17:36):
Oj, it's like the glass ofwater, is it half full or half
empty? It's both. Those whoare familiar with the Old testamenty with King
David. Was he a murderer oradulterer? Or was he a man of
God or whatever? He was both? So it's not an easy simple answer.

(17:57):
But I'm just hoping that you knowthat we can handle things as an
adult and then be mature about things. But time would tell. But this
is going to be a topic thatyou give a good idea as to which
way things will be going in thefuture. Hey yeah, no, Rich

(18:17):
Can I just ask you if youwere in charge of writing the eulogy or
a short essay if you will,about everything that happened in the life of
OJ Simpson, But you didn't doit chronologically. You did it by an
order of importance or that you thoughtpeople needed to know. What would be
the first thing that you would write? More, let's say somebody that lost

(18:44):
their way, you know, anddidn't quite maybe find their way back.
As that saying goes to karma.No, he didn't do time for the
murderer, but he did time forstealing his stuff back. So karma kind
of bounces about. But it's justnot really a simple topic or easy topic.

(19:06):
You know, in the balls alot of different things and those of
us were around at that time.Even now, it's kicking back off feelings
and memories of conversations that I hadwith people, because at that time I
was about either thirty or forty,and I'm quite sure did I say,
I have to do the math?But yeah, it was good for those

(19:27):
of us who are watching the Broncothing, it's like they're doing work.
Yeah, would have got shot,you know, right? So well,
Rich, I have to ask.I have to ask Rich before I let
you go, what was your initialreaction to this whole thing and how did
you feel about it when he wasacquitted? Okay, when he was acquitted.

(19:49):
As I said, this is nota simple topic. Well that's why
I asked the question. Rechie wassimple. I wouldn't need to ask ye
get here, Okay, there's partof me that feels he did it,
But what it was that he beatthe system. So so this is when
you get into this race thing thatmany people of color felt that the system

(20:14):
has been rigged for what they calledthe wash white Anglo Saxon Protestant as to
how the country is set up.And as it said, when he was
found he quitted. People who arecelebrating the fact that Johnny Conker was able
to beat the system was saying,if the glove don't fit, you must
have quit. I can't remember thename of the detectives that they called him

(20:37):
in a lie or well, it'sjust so many different things and the fractization
that was going on with I can'tremember the female and the prosecutor's name.
And then on Saturday Night Live theyhad a whole I mean, man,
this you turn into something that itcan maybe might blow over this or this

(20:59):
whole thing. My goal back upagain. I have no idea, but
this is be a good barometer,a test as to what's going to be
happening in November after the elections.It's an interesting angle. Rich. I
appreciate you calling in man, okay, and I enjoyed the show. I
wanted to call in last week whereI think you were talking French or whatever

(21:21):
because it brought back memories of juniorhigh school and I had to take French
and that was a whole disaster.Yeah. No, I'm going to Spain,
so I have to try to learnSpanish here because my wife wants us
to be able to speak Spanish whenwe go. But I all my French
are starting to come back up.You know. You know I'm going to
be saying, you know, Bartyon, find your own, compete, join

(21:45):
a lot of other I just Ireally just need to know Bonyos, right,
Like that's the one I need toknow. It's like Bonyos. Where
is al Bonyos? Yeah, buthey, I've taken up enough time because
I want to listen there to seehow other people feel. Because, as
I say, with the youngsters,because they say God's willing this June twenty
seven, I'll be turning seventy andthey say, I don't seen a whole

(22:07):
lot of different things. But I'minterested as to how the audience out there
feels. Sure you could give mean idea of what's going to be happening
in November, because I'm concerned abouthow the country is going to act,
because no matter which way the electionsgo, a group of people are not
going to be happy. And itdepends on how we handle this soil,

(22:30):
with this OJ thing. Those ofmy age, most of us don't vent
through all this different stuff. Sure, Rich, well, well, I
appreciate you calling him buddy, andwe'll see what some people have to say
here. All right, have agood day. So hey, great shoe,
take care? Yeah, thanks man. We'll get more phone calls on
this. We'll come up with ourcomps of like who would be a famous
person now that if they did somethingthat OJ was accused of doing in nineteen

(22:52):
ninety four, Like we would havea similar reaction to what society reacted to
the OJ thing. Figure out likewhat people historically might have something to that
you can compare to this very complexcharacter or figure in American history. It's
all in the way on news Radioeleven ten Kfab and Resung on news Radio
eleven ten KFAB trying to understand ordefine a legacy of one of the most

(23:18):
complex individuals and the one of themost complex lives lived in the United States
of America over our two hundred andfifty ish year history as a nation.
And we're getting your thoughts because thisis probably the last time OJ Simpson is
going to be relevant to talk aboutfour, two, five, five,
eight, eleven tens the number wehave Rob on the line, Rob,
thanks for calling in. What areyou thinking about? Hey? How you

(23:41):
doing good? All right? So, I just wanted to say I thought
it was going to bes. Howyou put that guy on the spot.
He perfectly explained OJ to the the's a glass of water, half bowler,
half empty. Why would it beBS that I put him on the
spot like that? Rob? Whocares what he thought that was thirty years

(24:02):
ago? Well? I put himon the spot here, Rob, because
he called in, and it's adiscussion. I'm not trying like he answered
the question if he did. Imean, everybody has the they don't they
don't have to answer. You guyscall into my show. I am the
guy that's like driving a discussion.He seemed he wanted to talk about it.
I asked him a question. Idon't know how that's BS. Rob.
I'm a little taken aback by thatcomment. Okay, Well that's your

(24:26):
opinion, okay, And it's youropinion that it was BS that I put
him on the spot. And likeyou said, his answer was good,
right. I mean, OJ Simpsonis a complex individual. Perfect answer,
Well, how do you feel aboutit? Do you do you have anything
to add to that? Yeah,at this point, I mean, it's
obvious to me that of course hedid it. But oh, I was

(24:47):
ten years old when that happened,so I didn't have an opinion. All
I knew in froom was the nakedgun. Well, I didn't even know
him at all, but I justremember that. One of my first memories
of television is me sitting there everyday my want mom was watching the soap
operas, and I'm like five yearsold, and every day that's all the
news was talking about. Before andafter the news or before and after the
soap opera, it was an updateon the OJ trial, and I just

(25:11):
I remember that vividly, seeing whatwas happening there, even though I had
no idea who the guy was orwhat was going on. The fact that
here we are thirty years later andwe still are mystified by this trial is
really a testament to how much ofa circus it actually was at the time.
Rob, appreciate you calling in.Thank you so much for being part
of the show. Thank you.Jeremy's on the line Jeremy, thanks for

(25:33):
calling in. What do you gotfor me? Hey? Emery? How
you doing? Love the show?Thanks? Man? My thoughts you're probably
not evenna like it. I'm probablygonna take a little bit of flag for
it, but I think this isall akin to like the royal wedding.
Who cares? I mean, Iget it. He was. He built
a name for himself in sports,which I also don't really care much for.

(25:56):
He was. My thoughts are onit as far as athletes go and
their fame and celebrity that stems fromthat, they're good at a job and
it's not even a job that particularlymatters. So he built his name on
something I mean, it's my opinion, of course, but on something that
I really don't put any stock in. Yeah, and then he turned out
to be a criminal. That's allhe was for the latter part of his

(26:18):
life. He was a criminal.Sure, nobody gets re ubiliitated in jail,
so he just got worse. Yeah. So okay, So lot to
unpack there, Jeremy. I don'tknow if you wanted me to unpack everything
that you wanted to say, butI'm gone to anyway. So first,
first off, a can of theroyal wedding. That's an interesting comp to
the death of this guy, becauseyou're right. I mean, in the
long haul, him dying isn't reallyimportant and relevant to people. However,

(26:45):
I think the reason it's worth talkingabout, and the reason people will be
talking about him for the next dayor so is because this is truly one
of the most unique individuals who everlived in the United States. Because of
everything we just talked about. Youtalked about him becoming famous in sports.
He did. He wasn't the firstguy ever to do that. He wasn't
the last guy ever to do that. But I would argue that sports does

(27:06):
matter because today or yes, no, it was yesterday. The mayor of
Iowa City said there is an additionaleighty two point three million dollars of revenue
that came in through merchandising and youknow, like sales of tourism and things
like that to Iowa City in thelast three or four years because of the
Caitlin Clark effect. She plays basketball, a skill that in the real world

(27:29):
you would think, Okay, that'spointless, except she can make some money
doing it. But it absolutely affectedthat local economy. O. J.
Simpson absolutely affected what usc was ableto do for recruits in the nineteen seventies.
He absolutely affected how many people caredabout the Buffalo bills in the nineteen
seventies and into the eighties. Itobviously he helped build the Naked Gun franchise
and was an important actor. Hewas on CBS doing some of their or

(27:52):
NBC doing some of their broadcasting.So I think there are a lot of
things that are going on as faras you know, his job's mattering.
But to your point, you're right. Once the first criminal ball dropped,
it was kind of just that way. The rest of the way, it
wasn't it. If you wanted tocall us about O. J. Simpson,
you can four h two five five, eight, eleven ten more on
the way in the three o'clock hournext on news Radio eleven ten KFAB.

(28:15):
Em Marie Sung on news Radio eleventen KFAB. We're kind of trying to
figure out the legacy of a verycomplicated individual. So before we do that,
drinks in the sky, Matt,what are you drinking? Well,
I got myself a Poweraid zero blueflavor mixed berry technically, but it's delicious

(28:40):
and it's hydrating me. That's good. I'm still working on my sweet tea.
So bottom's up. Cheers to you, m M, yeah, I
don't fake that. I really takea drink every time I say cheers on
the show, sue me. Isn'tthat what you're supposed to do? Jeez,
don't, don't don't put a knifein my back? Uh noted,

(29:03):
don't, don't don't try to killme and then drive off in a white
bronco at two brute. Take iteasy, man, I didn't steal your
memorabilia. O. J. Simpsonpassing away at seventy six. We're trying
to figure out how to remember it. How should he be remembered, in
what order would those things be remembered, all the things that he did or

(29:26):
didn't do in his life. Andwho would be a similar type of person
to OJ in ninety four when thisall happened to now, like at thirty
years later, is there a personalityor an athlete or an actor or whoever
that if we learned about this,this would shock us the way that society
was shocked in nineteen ninety four.All stuff to think about, and we'll

(29:49):
talk to you as well. Ourphone lines are open four two, five,
five, eight eleven ten is thenumber. Ned's on the line.
Hello, Ned, what's up?Yeah, Hey, good afternoon, Joe.
Thanks to taking a call. AndI'll be as brief as possible.
I just want to say this.First of all, I just want to
preach us this by saying my commentsdon't represent the whole black community, okay,

(30:12):
but just give you a little bitof understanding of where I'm at with
this and where a lot of mycomrades are. OJ Simpson as far as
an individual, Okay, I'm sixtythree years old. Of course I grew
up watching him play sports, themovies, this, that and the other.

(30:32):
But as far as OJ Simpson isconcerned, he's never really well,
he's never really been he's never representedblack folks. Okay. First of all,
you're probably too young to remember oneparticular I'll get to the point,
but one particular interview he said I'mnot black, he said, I'm OJ

(30:55):
Okay. But then years later whenhe got in this trouble or what have
you, and he was excuse me, and oh boy, got me choked
up, and you know, theyfound him not guilty. Now, of
course I wasn't there, but itlooks like he was. But anyway,
that's most black people cheer. Alot of put it this way, a

(31:21):
lot of black people cheered, notdue to for Oj as an individual.
What we were saying, and whatI was saying specifically is and I'm sorry
those people got killed and somebody gotaway with it or whatever. The bottom
line is, we've been screaming aboutthe injustice system since we've been on the

(31:44):
on the US troil. Okay,Now, then America loses a trial and
Oja happens to be the character,the part in the play, and then
anybody, and then all of asudden, European Americans starts screaming, oh,
the gesting system is broken. We'vebeen saying that forever, so right,

(32:07):
No, I'm hearing you need andI appreciate the thought. I think
that's got to be part of thestory, right, because this was bigger
than just the man going through awild trial about a crime that we seemed
sure that he committed, but therewas an irracial divide on the verdict.
And there have been documentaries about justthat and the fallout of that and how

(32:31):
relationships were strained because one person thatyou were friends with might have been in
support of him being guilty, andthe other person said, no, I
think it's you know, I thinkit's justified that he's he's not guilty,
and when he was not guilty,that created that divide even further. So
I think that that's fair to thinkabout, because that certainly has to be

(32:52):
part of his story. Ned,And I appreciate you calling it and explaining
that to us today, and thankyou for even I'm bringing up did you
guys keep on? I listened toyou every day. Hey, Ned,
I appreciate that, man, Thanksso much. That's part that's got to
be part of the story. Now. I don't know if you write it

(33:14):
in his eulogy, because it hadnothing to do with him dividing people via
race through this trial. But ifyou're telling the story about Ojy's life without
it being just like a straight eulogy, you have to explain that the reason
this had such cultural impact was beyondhow wild it was that what was going

(33:34):
on in the trial and the crimethat he was alleged to have committed and
all of the fallout from that infront of our eyes on the cameras,
the cultural impact extended to people onthe streets in our country. So I
think that's worth talking about. Bill'son the phone line four h two,
five five, eight eleven to ten. Bill, thank you so much for

(33:57):
being a part of our show today. What's going on with that? Yeah,
you know, I'm seventy six yearsold, the same age as Ojay
was. I've seen him play football. I've seen him play for the Bills.
You know the movies that was in. I seen a couple of those.
But when the trial came on,when when she was killed, it

(34:22):
was known that, you know,o jaesus celebrity. He was a big
shot in California. He had alot of friends. But the fact of
the matter is that when they changedthe menu of the trial to another area
of California, Okay, yeah,that changed the whole jury base. And

(34:46):
I kind of agreed with that whenit happened because where he lived with the
cole was in a very influential ordinarilyogion in California. Right. But now,
I worked in an auto plan atthe same time this plant was going
on, and we were very mixed, mixed bag of people. And okay,

(35:10):
everybody's talking. The jury will nevercome back with a guilty verdict.
Why because oj was in much enoughto be able to make sure that they
knew they better or not. Now, whether that's true of paulse I don't
know. Well if that, ifthat was true, though, why would

(35:30):
he then have the ability like like, why would they throw him in jail
in Vegas? You know fifteen yearslater? Well that's that's what I'm bringing
up. Net he was he wentto the civil trial and lost the civil
case. He was guilty in thecivil case with her family. Okay,

(35:53):
so when he went to Vegas andtried to get his memobilia back. See,
I looked at Oja as a criminal, right, whatever he did in
his past lives, he was acriminal. At least in Vegas he got
nine years for correct. Okay,he was a criminal. Now if you

(36:16):
say, you want to make someassociations here, h Epstein or whatever his
name was, that had the planethat went to uh you see plane is
coming, The plane is coming.When everybody was they knew what was happening
on the island, right, butnothing was said about him, right,
Well, okay, happened to himin prison. Yeah that's kind of a

(36:39):
you know, a parallel there alittle bit. Yeah, No, And
I Bill, I appreciate you youbringing that up because we're going to kind
of shift that to that part ofthe conversation. I think about, you
know, who are some comparables,not necessarily the exact same crimes, but
comparables into society and kind of thethe shock and horror that maybe society has

(36:59):
on fame or infamous people. AndI appreciate you calling in Bill with your
perspective today. Okay, thank you. We'll continue this conversation because I know
a lot of people are going tobe wanting to hop in here. You
can call us four h two fivefive eight to eleven ten. Four h
two five five eight to eleven tenmore calls. More of your thoughts on
how to try to remember oj Simpsonnext on news Radio eleven ten KFAB and

(37:20):
Marie Song on news Radio eleven tenKFAB. Darryl is on our phone line.
Darryl, thank you so much forcalling in. What do you think
about this? Hi? Well,I am from Los Angeles. I'm also
I grew up in South central LAand those who may know that's I grew
up in the black part of LA. I'm black, and I looked at

(37:44):
Ojay I. Everybody revered him whenhe was at USC and when he became
a pro football player. Everybody lookedup to him and revered him because of
his athletic abilities. But that doesnot translate to a person with character.
And I think of a person likewhat doctor Martin Luther King said, they

(38:05):
judge a person by the content oftheir character and not the color of their
skin. And what happened with Ojayis exactly the opposite. Those people who
revered doctor King ignored his message,and they were cheering for Ojay simply because
he's a black man. I meanpeople around me, I grew up in

(38:27):
the South cn Arla, around theblack community. They wanted to see him
off, get off because he's blacks. And I looked at the matter based
upon the evidence, and I figuredI considered then that he was guilty,
and he even exposed himself as beingguilty later on. I remember seeing an
interview where he did an interview inNorthern Europe. A Scandinavian woman was the

(38:55):
person interviewing him, and there wasa thing where o j came out of
He coprised her with a banana andhe started going as he was pretending to
stab her. That's not the actionsof innocent man, No, the actions

(39:16):
of a guilty man. I think, well, well, and I think
OJ seemed to have strangely a lotof fun trying to exploit what people already
thought of him, even though itcertainly was not great for his image or
any career he certainly lost in thatmoment. I have to ask before I
move on, Darryl, you saidthat you're an African American man, and

(39:38):
you're from somewhere outside the Midwest,right, very different from Los Angeles,
Sure so, but but but thepoint is you're from a very different culture
or area or society than we havehere in the Midwest in present day.
And I have to ask, whatwould you say to people who feel like,

(40:00):
because you're you're kind of going againstthe grain as far as you know.
Uh, A lot of people whoare not African American would have said,
well, most black people cheered forhim getting off, like you said,
of the charges because he was ablack guy. Is what do you
say to people who have those assumptionsabout African Americans in thinking that race usurps

(40:24):
almost any other thinking or any thoughtprocess when it comes to stuff like this.
There are good Black people and thereare bad Black people. It's just
like any other race in the world. And that's what matters the concept of
your character, what matters, Daryl, Darryl. I think those are wise

(40:45):
words and we really appreciate you sharingthose with us today. Thank you.
Let's go to Wayne. Wayne Ison our phone line in four L two
five, five eight to eleven tenWayne your memory on news radio eleven ten
kfa B. I just one tosay, I think that we elevate a
lot of these celebrities higher than weshould. Take a look at when princess

(41:07):
died died, what other famous persondied that same day? Do you know?
Without looking it up? Mother Teresa? Yay, there you go,
ah see, I know stuff.Yeah, but who talks about that?
Who talked about her dying? Youknow? And she touched a lot of
lives, sure, And that's whatThat's what my point is is we sometimes

(41:30):
we take these celebrities what much higherthan they really should be. Well,
and can I just go back tothat that that example you gave me though,
isn't the cause of death kind ofpart of that a little bit?
Yea, Mother Teresa died of oldage, and for instance, Diana died
in a very strange car accident.Absolutely the mysterious circumstances around her accident.

(41:53):
Yes, but still it's the sametime, same day. You probably ask
one hundred people that question and maybetwo or three of them would know,
Uh yeah, I mean that mightbe fair. I guess. To follow
up on that, Wayne and theOJ, we're talking about OJ, and

(42:13):
obviously OJ. It was a bigcelebrity for a couple of decades, at
least before this all happened. Right, do you have in your mind,
like as you experienced that how famousis he? Is he an a list
celebrity at the time? B listcelebrity? Like how do you rank his
celebrity status? And was that anappropriate one for a guy who was a

(42:36):
star football player in the NFL asit was growing and becoming more popular,
and then was in some popular filmsand was on television and in commercials an
awful lot. I think he wasmore towards a cless celebrity at that time.
He was going downhill. He wasn'tin the Naked Gun anymore, he
wasn't on football anymore. You barelyheard of him, and then you heard
of this, and then it pushedhim back up to a BA area a

(43:00):
celebrity where everybody heard of him.Okay, Okay, it makes sense that
might help us with our comparables aswe try to figure out, like what
level of celebrity it would be nowadaysto have a similar reaction to what that
happened. Wayne. I appreciate youfor go ahead. What if what if
Patrick Mahomes did this? Yeah?I mean right now, I don't know

(43:22):
if it's the same. I thinkit'd be more shocking now because he's still
like in the prime of his career. You know. Absolutely, to get
a like fair comp it would haveto be somebody who's like retired, Like
you'd have to pull a sea levelcelebrity. And this is why we need
to think about this, like asea levels like you're saying, he was
at that time that this happened,a sea level celebrity, uh, and

(43:45):
didn't really have a whole lot goingon, at least as far as the
you know, mainstream public was concerned. And then this happened and all of
a sudden it became like the storyof the year. So like who would
be that person? We'll we'll talkin brainstorm that and workshop that, Wayne.
But I have appreciate you calling in, ok thank you. If you
want to call in, You wantto talk oj You want to talk about

(44:05):
the complicated legacy of a man thatcertainly is going to have a You have
to conclude him in the story ofAmerican history for a variety of reasons,
not necessarily for the football, notnecessarily for the movies, not necessarily for
even what happened in Las Vegas.It's all what happened in nineteen ninety four
and how that affected our court system, how it affected entertainment, how it
affected the way we carried and coverednews, and how we can, like

(44:30):
Daryl brought up the conversation of racialdivide in our country and why that happens.
We'll continue that conversation next and youcan call it four oh two five
five eight eleven ten, four ohtwo five five eight eleven ten News Radio
eleven ten KFAB and Marie's songer onnews Radio eleven ten KFAB. Janette's on

(44:51):
our line. Jeanette, thanks forthe call today. What do you think
about this? Well, my niece'shusband was the lead athlete when he was
at Iowa State. He won anational champion disco's throwing contests, and when
he was when he was in highschool, he won some big award and
he went to New York and O. J. Simpson is the person who

(45:15):
gave him his trophy, and hehad a picture taken of the two of
them, and it was on hismantle for years until this happened, and
then it kind of got knuck awayinto a drawer. But one of he
had four girls, and one ofhis youngest girls came home one day and

(45:35):
said none of them had ever paidany attention to his trophy and this picture
before. But she came home andsaid, dat, I want to know
if I can take the picture ofyou and the murderer to school tomorrow for
show and tell. So that's mystory for about O. Jayson, I
mean, was the answer. Yes, yeah, yeah, I mean I

(45:59):
don't know, I have no Imean, like if I had a picture
with the guy that turned out tobe a terrible person and was famous for
it, I'd still keep it.I I mean, I wouldn't be pretty.
I wouldn't say that this is thegreatest guy I've ever met. I
would say look who I net.Once. Yeah, I showed that off
a little bit, it was stillit was still quite an honor that he

(46:19):
got the sure so so yeah,but it just never it never caught their
attention until it had to do withhim after Nicole was murdered. So yeah,
no, for sure. Wow,well, Jeanette, that's an interesting
one. For sure. I appreciateyou calling in. Welcome by. All
right, let's go to John John'son our phone line four O two five
five eight eleven ten. John.You're with Emory Songer here on news radio

(46:43):
eleven ten kfab Hey man, howyou doing again? I'm good man,
what's up? Well, I don'twant to retry the case, and I
hope you just give me two oneminute to just exciting myself because I listened
to all these people calling me inand they given all of these crazy thing
about her granddaughter wouldn't take the picturethe school. Everybody got an opinion.

(47:05):
I understand that, but see,that kind of stuff is just silly.
I'm just saying, as a blackman, that's how so many black men
get set in prisons because white peopleget so emotional about he did it,
Yeah, he did it. Don'twant to look at the evidence. Now,
let me just show you four piecesof the evidence that I told you
that oj Censum did not do that. Number one, if you killed two

(47:29):
people with a knife and get backin your car. There's nowhere in the
world blood that's got blood gonna beeverywhere. So that's number one. Number
two. Van Adam the detective,the detective that nurse took ten cceeds a
blood away from OJ. Van Adamput it in his pocket, went to

(47:49):
OJ house and when they went tocourt, that was eight c seed that
the nurse got on the stand andsay he took ten cceed that's number two.
Number three when when h O J. Lawyer put the one guy on
a van out on the standard side, well, how would blood get to
the on the sock from one sideto another if you got the sock on

(48:13):
your feet, you can't do that. Number three Cato talking about oh J
jumped the fence, ran into theair condition in the back and hit the
thing so hard and shook the building. O J had no scars, no
scratches on it. And like Isaid, other black folks, we you
might not say we couldn't see thescars cause he's black, but man,
come on. And and then allthe detectives said there was no broken bushes

(48:37):
in the back of his house,or he supposed jumped over the fence ask
for. All I'm saying is thatif you're gonna sit on a jewelry,
you want to hear the evidence.You don't want to go in there with
this whole mixed up thing. Ohhe's a black man, he killed,
he going to prison, John,I'm less taking people to call in John,

(48:58):
John, Okay, okay, Igave you your minute. I give
you two minutes. John, allright, my turn, my turn.
All right. So I'm hearing whatyou're saying. You obviously have done your
homework, and there are things thatyou've been thinking. Yeah, but you've
been thinking about this thing. Ihear it. I'm understanding the Cato thing.
We definitely you know, there's there'sanother episode of a doc that you

(49:20):
can do. Just do on theCato thing. I'm hearing you. Do
you really think though, that thatis all racial or this had a lot
more to do with the fact thatthis is a celebrity in the public eye
as to why this trial became sucha circus. Didn't have a bit to
do it. Both didn't have abit to do with both yeah, right,
okay, and a public trial ofa superstar. Okay, all right,

(49:45):
John, Next question, I hadan email asking me this as well,
and I find it to be kindof fascinating. If Nicole would have
been a black woman and Ron mayhave been a black man, is the
trial handled any differently? Is thecoverage of the news handled differently if a
white man him? No? No, No, If O J killed if

(50:06):
O Jay's if O J? IfNicole and Ron were not white people,
if if O J committed a crimeand it was to African American, that's
a non star because they they werewhite and they was back. No.
No. But John, John,I'm just saying right like you're saying,
you're you're saying that race is Iknow, John, I hear you.

(50:27):
You're not hearing me, Okay,I'm it's okay. What what I'm what
I'm saying is hypothetically speaking, yousay race is important here, and I
don't disagree, because there certainly wasa racial divide after the verdict. There's
no doubt about that. It's beenwell documented. But I if you're going
to bring that into it, Ihad an email or asking it. It's
a good question. If Nicole andRon were not white people, if they

(50:52):
were people of color, is doesthe news he's a celebrity still. But
does the news, does the newsand the trial get covered differently than it
did in nineteen einety four, Ithink it wouldn't even make itnimate the six
o'clock news, and uh, theywould have waited to the trial and that
would have been it. No,it wouldn't have got covered the way it

(51:13):
did. Know, it's interesting,and I mean it's an interesting thing to
think about. Everybody know that.I mean, see that's what I'm saying.
We try to make things and createthese hypothetical things, and everybody knows
that's calling in your show. Understandthat, man, I don't understand.
See, you have to speak truthto power. That's all it is.
That's all it is. I'm notsitting here trying to If Ojay did it,

(51:34):
I would say, send in theprisons, hanging, do whatever you
want to do with the man.But I'm saying, if you're gonna put
someone in prison or for life,then you have to have the evidence to
do that. And I'm telling youand telling all your listeners, the glove
did not sit van Adam had thisthe blood in it in his pocket like
they put on the stand. Thathave been not And I watched the whole

(51:57):
trial as much as I could,shop up with it every day. I'm
seventy years old, so I watchedit. Ain't not Somebody told me this
man put a viol of blood inhis coat pocket, walked around with it
and he had ten ccs in that. The nurse who took it from got
on the staff and I heard you, John, I heard you. Yeah,
I'm this emotional, so we gotto get off of that. Well,

(52:22):
John, But John, John,I I'm hearing you, and I
appreciate your passion on it. Thereare a lot of other factors, and
like you said, I don't knowif it's worth retrying the trial. I
don't know, but the guard riskhis soul moving on, but he's still
More of our conversation isn't about whatdid he do it in nineteen ninety four,

(52:43):
It's about how do you remember thisguy? What's his legacy? And
I think that's what we're struggling with. And I'm glad that you brought this
up, John, because I lovedifferent angles of the story. So I
really appreciate, as always you callingit all right? Man, You have
a glass day? Yeah, youtoo. Man. He's always with the
price admission isn't he level? WhenJohn calls in three forty six, is
the time you want to talk aboutOJ Simpson. We're going to come up

(53:05):
with some comps. I had oneemailer had a really good one, really
really good one about Okay, So, if OJ was famous he was about
forty five years old and then committedthese crimes in nineteen ninety four, what's
the twenty twenty four equivalent of that? Like, who would be OJ pre
murder right now? And if thisperson did something, what would get a

(53:28):
similar reaction to what's happened what happenedwith OJ? I have one from an
emailer that's really really good. We'lltalk about that as we continue to roll
on thinking and trying to come upwith the legacy of OJ Simpson, a
very complex individual here on news Radioeleven ten kfab. Emery Songa on news
Radio eleven ten k fab. Well, I mean, what do you make

(53:51):
of it here thirty years after almostthirty years to the month in June of
the initial crime that he was allegedto have commit with the murders of you
know, Ron and Nicole, andthen what happened after that? Oh?
No, you know, it's likethe trial and then everything that was mostly

(54:13):
bad about his life afterwards, buttrying to figure out how to remember somebody
like this, Well, Dirk's onher phone line. You can call us
four two five five eight eleven tenfour two five five eight eleven ten.
Dirk, what do you think aboutit? Well? I was listened to
John in a minute ago, andand he was really staking out some good
facts, some things I hadn't heardbefore, you know. But uh,

(54:34):
I'm sixty times so I lived throughthat old help and uh, but really
he lost his credibility when he didn'tthink it would have been a big deal
it kills people. Could I thinkyou got a celebrity killing somebody, it's
gonna be a big deal. You'reyeah, No, And I tend to
agree, Dirk. I still thinkit would have been a big deal.
I do think it was covered alittle bit differently because of the the way

(55:00):
the media wanted to spin it becauseof ratings. You know, I don't
think it has anything to do withOJ. I think it has everything to
do with the media wanting maximum ratings. It's harder to spin it the way
that they spun it and create theracial divide that the verdict eventually would create
if they weren't white people, youknow what I mean. I think there's
an element to it, But Itend to agree with you. I think

(55:21):
it still would have been covered thesame, like the same for the same
amount. The same level of attentionwould have been on it. I'm just
not sure the reaction would have beenas visceral for the verdict. Correct.
I don't think the reaction would havebeen the same, but I think the
coverage still would have been a bigdeal, just like when oh, a
few years ago the time for NewYeah, Aaron Hernandez, Yeah, Aaron

(55:43):
Hernander, there you go that uhuh you know, gotten into that Murber
deal. Yeah, that was allover the place. It was the same
damns coming up. Yeah, yeah, for sure, Derek. I appreciate
you calling in with your thoughts.So this is kind of I know that
John's not here to but I likeit when I like it when our callers
go back and forth a little bitand we have people who, you know,

(56:05):
have different points of view and perspectivesand we talk about it on the
show. One of the things Iwanted to talk about if okay, in
nineteen ninety four, pre uh premurder OJ Simpson is forty five, forty
six years old, and he's ata certain level. And then the murders
happen, and then you see whatthe reaction is and they're breaking in on
the news, they're showing the WhiteBronco Chase. Who is a person in

(56:28):
twenty twenty four that's at that levelthat if something, if they did something
or were alleged to do something verybad like that, that it would be
all over everywhere, much like theOJ Bronco chase, and then the subsequent
trial most likely. What do youthink you got something? Well, we

(56:52):
were talking off air and we weretalking about, you know, having those
combinations of he was a star intwo arenas. I thought that was,
you know interesting Which caller was that? I can't remember who said he was
more of a B or C lesscelebrity. Yeah times. So that's a
wrinkle. Yeah, so you gotto think about that, right, It's
not like the most famous person youcan think of. It can't be Michael
Jordan, it can't be Tiger Woods. I don't think it can't be Dwayne

(57:17):
the Rock Johnson too famous, toofamous. So you threw out John Cena,
which is an interesting one. Butmaybe he's too famous as well.
He might be, he might be, he might not also not be.
I don't know, but he mightfit in there A little bit, I
mean to me is like the closestwe've gotten I have. I have some
good ones. Z Frank, saysAaron Rodgers. Hmm, yeah, okay.

(57:45):
I think he's got a little bitof mainstream appeal, but nobody would
like say he's an A list celebrity. It also wouldn't be crazy to think
that he'd do something wild considering thegrowing political views that he seems to have.
And somehow his foot have to bea part of the trial because he
had the foot moment on that podcast. Oh yeah, yeah, Uh got

(58:10):
a couple, Uh got a couplemore here and again. If you want
to throw me some of what you'rethinking about, you can. You can
call in at four h two fivefive, eight eleven ten. You can
also email Emriett kfab dot com.How about this one? Chuck emails in
and says, the first thing thatpopped into my mind was Shaquille O'Neill.

(58:30):
Oh, Shaquille O'Neill, too famous, too big? Yeah, you know
what, I see it? Becausehe does have the movie career, a
little bit of rap in there,a little bit of hip hop career.
He is still in the public eyebecause it was broadcasting. I would say,
I, first off, it wouldhurt my heart if that ever happened,

(58:52):
because I just I love Shaquille.Well, yeah, but that's not
the signe, right it is.Yeah, he's He's got a lot of
those components. I would almost sayhe's a little bit too too famous.
I think he's still too famous.How about Mark emails in Michael Strahan Hall
of Fame football player. He's intelevision. He didn't doesn't do movies,

(59:15):
but he's in television. He ishe famous enough? That's an interesting one.
But people stop what they're doing andbe like, dude, Strahan is
like in a white Bronco driving downthe highway being chased by cops right now?
Maybe not famous enough? Yeah,yeah, yeah, if that was
Shack or Aaron Rodgers or something,that's that is absolutely happening. Yes,

(59:37):
Straighthan, I don't think so,but we're talking about it. You can
call us again four two, fiveto five, eight to eleven ten.
You can also email Emerie at kfabdot com. The show goes on on
news radio eleven ten Kfab em Marie'ssonger on news radio eleven ten Kfab.
Matt Case is my producer. Beforewe do anything. It's Thursday, Thursday.
Anything you're drinking right now? Igot myself a Poweraid zero mixed berry.

(01:00:00):
If I challenge you to get somethingmore exciting, like the diet right
cola or the the you who thatyou had the one time, I need
to see what's on sale. Yeah, next Thursday, have something very exciting
and I'll try to do the same. Try like try to break our break

(01:00:21):
because you and me are basically doingthe same thing every week. Now.
Yeah, you know we need towe need to find a new thing.
There are ways that we could behelped in mixing it up each week.
Yeah. So if you're a bottlerout there and you want to sponsor a
segment on a show, hit meup or call me for that. You
could email Emory at kfab dot com. Though, if you're serious wackier,

(01:00:45):
yeah, hey, I'm drinking anice tea. So cheers to you wherever
you are, whether you're off workor not, we care about you and
we thank you for being a partof our family. Cheers yem okay oh
Jason to the Phones four h twofive five, eight eleven ten. Brian
is there, Brian? What doyou think about OJ? Hey, Marie,

(01:01:08):
thanks for taking the call. Man, Yeah, no problem, man.
What's up? First question? Soyou're intro music? What is that
guitar riff? What is that from? That? Is a song called I
Believe In a Thing called Love bythe Darkness? Oh nice. I'm gonna
have to look that up because Idig that every time I hear it.
Dude, It's It's a rock andtune. You have to check it out.

(01:01:30):
One of the most fun songs tosing along to as well. Yeah.
Yeah, we can't play the lyricsthough, because I need to talkle
over it. But when you hearthe lyrics, you're going to be like,
man, that guy can sing.Yeah. Anyway, Yeah, anyway
about OJ. So, I wasin college when that all went down.
I was working on a crap jobat Perkins. Came home and watched Bronco

(01:01:53):
And what I remember about that wasthe perception change. And you know,
and this is kind of a touchything for me because I realized what a
heinous I th this is, youknow, the part of people. But
OJ was kind of one of thoseguys that you were like, I remember

(01:02:15):
him from the Naked Gun movies,and he was I didn't put him on
a pedestal, but he made melaugh. Yeah, no, you thought
one way of him, And nowyou're seeing him be accused of murder and
being chased by a dozen cop carson a highway in California. Oh that,
and then fast forward to now wherewe have to cancel out. Well,

(01:02:36):
it's like, well, you can'tlaugh at the Naked Gun anymore?
Is that? Is that true,though, Brian? Is it? I
don't think it was, because nobody'sknocking down my door telling me that.
But I think you feel uncomfortable personallylaughing at the Naked Gun movies because now
you know who this guy is.Yeah, but you know, I you

(01:02:57):
know, I'm juxtaposing it to theirsituations where it's like, we can't listen
to this music because this guy isthis or no. And I have,
personally, I've had those battles too. You know, a musician gets,
you know, in trouble for somesexual crime of some kind. I like,

(01:03:17):
every time a song of that bandcomes on, I generally am like,
uh, oh, yeah, thatguy I get in trouble that one
time. I'm with you, I'mwith you. I'm not really saying that
it's anything personally that I deal with, because it's like, I like what
I like, I remember and associatethose things. But it's more kind of
a call out to the people thatdo, yeah, no, say these

(01:03:40):
things, you know, remember,you know, just give yourself the break.
You don't need to burden yourself withthis, you know, because that
one point in time he was ahero to a lot of people, for
sure, but then he made adecision, at one point in his life
to disassociate himself from whatever he hadbuilt up to that point. Well,
well, Brian, I can tellI can tell you this. That's why

(01:04:02):
we're talking about it now, becausethis might be the last time we ever
talked about this guy. And thisis one of the most confusing and confounding
legacies that any one person has had, I think, in American history,
at least in our lifetime. Soit's certainly worth talking about. I appreciate
you calling in today. Absolutely,Sidney's on the line. Sydney, thank
you so much for being a partof our show today. What do you

(01:04:23):
got I was thinking about Alec Baldwinm Rest, Yeah, rust. Yeah,
yeah, I think you know,they covered that a lot, but
I guess the parameters on the onthe comps that we're thinking about. If
Alec Baldwin was accused of killing somebody, not by accident on a set,

(01:04:46):
but by you know, like goingthere and killing somebody and then being chased
by a dozen cop cars, wouldthat be on every possible television screen that
they be breaking news on anything thatwas going on, and you would like
not be like you couldn't stop watchingit. I'm not sure Alec Baldwin at
this level of the game is theexact same. Although it is kind of

(01:05:10):
crazy that that actually happened, we'renot even like hypothetically speaking, he actually
did shoot somebody. I think,you know, he was negligent. You
know, they were shooting firearms onthe set and stuff around in the background
other days, and then I thinkit's just negligent and you really haven't done
anything about it. Well, wellthey did, well, not to him

(01:05:31):
yet, but they did sentence toa few years in jailed the armorer that
was in charge of the guns andthe ammunition on the set, So she's
already been charged. So well we'llsee exactly what they do to Alec Baldwin
though, because that has not happenedyet. For sure, Sidney appreciate the
call today, I thinks for thecall. Okay, yeah, thanks Mars

(01:05:54):
on the line four two, five, five, eight eleven ten, Mark,
what do you got on your mind? Yeah? Yeah. My opinion
is if he wasn't guilty, whydid he have this slow chase. You
know, any normal person would ifyou weren't guilty, you wouldn't run from
the law. But anyway, andthen also with the mountain of evidence.

(01:06:15):
I recorded that every day while Iwas at work on the old VHS,
and I'd watched the whole thing,and there was a mountain of evidence.
Besides the blood, there was receiptsand her hair, and receipts for the
plastic carp in the back of thebuncle and all this and that. And

(01:06:35):
they forget too that. After thathe was found was acquitted because the glove
didn't fit, which was a Iwatched that on my VHS and he struggled
to get that glove on and hecouldn't get it on. But once the
judge said sit down, well,he just relaxed his hand and he took

(01:06:56):
that glove off. With one finger. He had it halfway on his hand.
That was his best acting career inhis life right there, that few
minutes there. And they got toremember too that he was found The Goldman
family suit him for the death oftheir son and he was found guilty for
that and was awarded. The Goldmanswere awarded over thirty million dollars. I

(01:07:20):
think that Jay was supposed to paythem. Yeah, it's a a a
little bit different style of case orstyle of trial, but yeah, I
mean it's seemingly impossible that you'd beacquitted in one arena for that crime and
then be found guilty in a differentway in a different court for the same

(01:07:41):
crime. It's very strange, Mark, this is good stuff, you know.
I think that go ahead, MarciaClark. I've seen an interview with
her about six months afterwards. Theyhad a sixty minutes thing or thirty yeah,
yeah, dateline or whatever, andshe quit law because the law failed
her, and you know, thesystem failed her. She quit practicing law

(01:08:04):
because she is so upset and overthat trial. No, and I hear
that, Mark, I appreciate youcalling in man, thanks for being part
of the show. You bet.Yeah, And I mean if We're going
to talk about how many people havebeen failed by the justice system. I
mean that died, long, long, long list. I don't know if

(01:08:26):
I want to get into to justthat conversation part of it. Plenty more
calls are coming in. We're goingto get to them. Four h two
five to five, eight eleven ten. Remembering OJ Simpson and trying to find
modern day twenty twenty four comps towhat like a celebrity or a person in
the public eye that if they didsomething similar and then had the Bronco Chase,

(01:08:46):
that society would react the same waythat society did to Oj in nineteen
ninety four. That conversation continues nexton news Radio eleven ten kfab em Marie
Sunger on news Radio eleven ten kfab. He was the story in nineteen ninety
four, nineteen ninety five. Hebecame a story on multiple occasions since then,

(01:09:08):
mostly not great things. But nowhe passed away to yesterday. We
found out today. But we're talkingabout the legacy and trying to remember,
like what do you remember most aboutwhat his legacy is going to be and
how he fits into American history.We're also thinking about comps and I got

(01:09:30):
a really good one here. Ihad Brian's says, I say, Peyton
Manning, that might be the answer. That's a that's on a lot of
levels. Now, Hall of Famerdid some TV work, He's done a
little bit actings and a lot ofcommercials done Saturday Night Live. He's generally

(01:09:53):
liked and beloved by people. Ifhe did something like this and he was
in a car chase, there's noway people aren't watching that. Yeah,
one hundred percent. And I thinkhe's the right level of person that we're
talking about here. Yes, we'retalking about all all things OJ. And

(01:10:13):
if you want to call in,you can at four O two five five
eight eleven ten four two five fiveeight eleven ten. Marie is on the
line. Marie, thank you forcalling in today. What's on your mind
about this? Okay? First,if since OJ didn't do it, then
I guess Nicole and gold Goldman arecold cases, so they just better reopen
that yep. Two, if hewasn't a celebrity, do you think the

(01:10:39):
way are we're not celebrities? Doyou think you have all these police cars
and helicopters following you on this slowchase? No? Oh, we know
better as far as celebrity murders,Bobby Blake with his wife, he got
off. They said there's no wayit couldn't have been him, and that

(01:11:00):
case went. He was acquitted.Done in the story over with and celebrity
plays it and Johnny Cochlin, hisattorney, made a statement before he passed,
and he's been gone about twenty years, said, you know, I
helped leave a man who killed twopeople. Right, Well, there it
is. So that's from his ownattorney before he passed, So there it

(01:11:23):
is. But his they made someblurbs about him. He's gone. He's
gone. No, I mean thestory, yeah, he is there,
it is. Thanks, thanks,very appreciate you and one take care already.
I don't disagree with any of that. At the end of the day,
though, he was acquitted, andwe have to respect the judicial system

(01:11:46):
even if we think it's completely wrongin this scenario. And that's why I
think it's worth talking about. Thedoor is open for some debate on that,
and we had john I think itwas earlier, give you know a
few different things as to why hefeels like that was the correct verdict.
This is part of the reason whythis keeps getting talked about those because there

(01:12:08):
is some mystery behind a lot ofthe stuff that was going on and the
way that the trial went down.I mean, putting the glove on there,
How is that even the thing?How would that have been considered evidence?
Right? Isn't that weird? Likeput the glove on and like,

(01:12:28):
of course he's going to try tomake it seem like the glove doesn't fit.
Of course he is. It's notCinderella here. And we had a
listener, Laura. She didn't stayon. She didn't make it on the
air, but when I was talkingto her off era, one of her
points she wanted to say was thatwas a leather glove. Leather shrinks with
water. You know, there's alot of different ways that that could have.
It was all for the circus,Yeah, it was for the cameras.
Phil's on the line real quick,Phil, thanks for calling in.

(01:12:48):
What do you got in your mind? I've got first I remember them the
car chase being used for SummerSlam.They end up using it that way.
First celebrity. It's not a murder, but everything going on with vincuitman,
I mean, they're trying to wipehim out completely of the history of WWF

(01:13:12):
WWE. Yeah, and they're buyingthem off. I mean, but he's
still got the lawsuit coming up,so that I don't know how he's going
to get out of that one.I don't know either. That's crazy.
You're looking at somebody that did thatwhat he did, and they're just trying
to wipe him out completely of notbeing mentioned, not being used at all.

(01:13:35):
Well, none of it well Phil, I used yeah, and Phil
just to reiterate that point in twentytwenty four and social media and the cancel
culture that exists. They don't wanthis him being involved in any way now
or ever to harm the product.And I can understand that it's unfortunate though,

(01:13:56):
because of the role that he playedin building that, you know what
I mean. So I'm hearing youmovies that the movies that OJ were in
you don't see those played, Nope, And they can't because it's like we
had a caller earlier. It's anuncomfortable watch, like you even it's not
even just being canceled, it's justit's uncomfortable to like laugh or find his
character charming, which was the wholepoint of having him in the films.

(01:14:18):
Phil appreciate the call today. Yep, have a good one, you too.
All Right, we'll continue this,got a few more emails coming in.
If you're thinking about O. J. Simpson in any way, shape
or form, you can email EMarie ATKFAB dot com or call four oh
two five five eight eleven ten fouroh two five five eight eleven ten.
It's four thirty News Radio eleven tenKFA. B Emery's songer on news Radio

(01:14:41):
eleven ten KFAB. Oh J.Did I know you're not a social media
guy, Matt? But O J. Simpson was on Twitter or now x
his most recent post before the FAfamily jumped on there today to announce that
he had passed away. Was hisSuper Bowl pick and he rolled with the

(01:15:05):
forty nine ers, and he's wearinga forty nine ers jersey and he's sitting
out by the pool. I mean, every couple of days, every week
or so, he would make avideo and he'd just be like, hey,
it's Ode Simpson. He'd talked alot about football, but he also
talked a lot about a lot ofother stuff, and it was kind of

(01:15:26):
entertaining to hear what this guy hadto say about this stuff. I remember
how much that would upset people.You know, you'd always hear whenever that
topic would come up. It wouldalways come up in a version of sort
of like people were upset. They'reupset that he had a Twitter account and
that he would talk about the wayhe felt about stuff. And I was

(01:15:47):
always I don't know, I youknow, what rule was he breaking exactly?
It's like, you know, andit was all videos. It was
always it was always videos, AndI just I can't help but tell you,
like, like in my brain,I just sit here and I'm just
like, I'm actually blessed to livein an age where somebody like this just

(01:16:12):
decided he wanted to do this.Not I don't think he got paid to
do this, because he didn't haveany paid commercials or anything from people to
promote on his accounts. They werejust him talking about stuff, mostly football.
But he's just talking about stuff,And it's just kind of fascinating to
hear with this guy who is famousfor a lot of the wrong reasons,

(01:16:38):
but to hear him just talk likea normal person about football, something he
obviously is passionate about. And Idon't hate that, and I'm not going
to incriminate him for doing that,even though it is. It's strange,
like it's a morbid curiosity. Ifhe wasn't OJ Simpson, I probably wouldn't
be that interested. But because he'sOj Simpson, I certainly paid attention to

(01:16:59):
what he had to say. Now, I didn't take any of his tips
and running the bank with him,but you know, I just found it
interesting and fascinating that he has stuffto say. Yeah, you know,
it's Yeah. Do you think theBills cared that he would always be wearing
his Bill's gear and Bill's logos andcelebrating Buffalo and cheering on the Bills.
Do you think USC has a bigissue with him cheering on the Trojans.

(01:17:24):
Well, I mean they don't nowobviously, but people in prison have favorite
sports teams too, you know,I don't know, you think. Do
you think it's done irreparable harm tothe Bill's brand? Neither? Yeah,
not at all. If anything,has probably put them in the public eye
more. Yeah, maybe so,Yeah, I don't think that's bad.
I mean, when you're a teamlike the Buffalo Bills, you're in a
smaller market in the National Football League, the way you can stay any way

(01:17:45):
you can stay relevant. It probablywill take it's an interesting conversation, but
you know, I think one ofthe one of the conversations that come out
of it is are, like whatwe've been thinking about for the better part
of the last hour or so modernday comps that if what happened for with

(01:18:10):
OJ on June seventeenth, nineteen ninetyfour, with which culminated in the Bronco
chase, if there was something thathappened like that with the celebrity in the
public eye now, that would garnerthe exact same reaction, not a bigger
reaction, but about the same sizeof reaction, because we look back now

(01:18:31):
and it's like OJ Simpson was thishuge guy, but we've been led to
believe from callers and also a lotof people who were right. He wasn't
the biggest celebrity. He was notan A List celebrity at the time that
this happened. He might have beenan A less celebrity at one time,
but he was probably closer to aC list celebrity than he was an A
List celebrity at the time. Andwe're trying to find what those comps are

(01:18:55):
before we do that. Todd's onour phone line at four h two five
five eight to eleven ten. Toddthinks for the call today, what you
got in your mind. I wasjust thinking, you know, in the
nineties, we had just been throughthe whole Rodney King incident out there in
Los Angeles. Yeah, and therewas a lot of turmoil over that whole

(01:19:17):
incident. I think that maybe someof the errors maybe, I mean a
lot of people were still reeling fromthat whole incident. So so yeah,
I think the acquittal was was dueto them trying to balance that thing out.
I do I feel like maybe ifit had been at a different time,
he probably would have been found guilty. It's interesting, you know that

(01:19:41):
making a verdict based on what youthink of a reaction or you know what
what could happen in the wake ofa guilty verdict. That's interesting and Todd,
I appreciate you bringing that up today. Thanks for the call. Yep,
I I you can't say that that'simpossible. He's too public a figure.

(01:20:04):
I mean, there's absolutely And thisis why I think being a juror
is an impossible task no matter what, because and maybe it's just because I
overexposed myself to the news all thetime, but they always are trying to
move these trials to places that theymight not have as much information so they
can be as fair as possible.How could this ever have been a fair

(01:20:25):
trial? And then the Rodney Kingthing looming is like, Okay, if
we find this guy guilty, there'sa chance that there's going to be like
a visceral, violent backlash we justsaw it. Does that change the way
that you you you decide on somethinglike this. It shouldn't, obviously,
but does it? And that's isthat just a side effect of the system

(01:20:48):
of justice that we have in thiscountry. There were a lot of really
difficult pressures on the juror on thejurors at that time. You know,
if you watch some of the documentariesand some of the the movies around it,
that show just how they were lockedin where they were, they couldn't
go anywhere for throughout the duration ofthat trial, which was a long one,

(01:21:11):
and there was just a lot ofI mean that, yeah, very
any any any enviable if I cansay the word position for them to be
in. And have you alver beenon a jury No, I never have.
I I did have jury duty once, but while we were all in
line to basically go through the processof maybe getting selected. At some point

(01:21:35):
they uh settled out of court andsomeone came in let us know, and
then we were all dismissed. Soso you didn't but you didn't actually go
through a trial. Haven't haven't doneit. There's part of me that's like
I want to have that, youknow, that's inexperience. But at the
same time, I only hear badthings. Yeah, I feel like that'd
be kind of stressful and literally acase. I don't know anybody who said

(01:21:58):
I was really like pumped, theygot y and I loved it, Yeah,
like it like I did my dutyand I feel great about it.
Never heard one person say that youwant to hear. A really weird fact
about the OJ trial what Will Ferrellis involved in a weird sort of way.
He was in a comedy improvide improvisedcomedy group grew up in LA at

(01:22:23):
the time of the trial. Tokeep the jurors entertained, they brought their
that comedy troupe in to perform forhim. So he performed for the OJ
jurors because they couldn't go anywhere.Yeah, because they were locked in place
for that whole time. The durationof the trial, so they would just
kind of bring people in to givethem something to do, make them not

(01:22:43):
go crazy. I guess, wow, that's crazy. Yeah, that's pretty
cool. Yeah, I still wouldn'twant to be a juror though. It
would feel like summer camp for liketwo days, and then after that I'd
be like, please in this now, whatever what do I have to do
to get out of here? I'dstart making stuff up that'd be irresponsible.
I'd be like, I don't know, I'm getting a little schizophrenic in here.
I think you don't want me onthis jurney anymore. I'm gonna spill

(01:23:04):
the beans or something. I don'tknow. That'd be tough. Yeah,
four forty seven is our time whenwe come back. Really cool thing that
is to change here is really coolthing that iHeart radio is doing. Not
to pat ourselves on the back,but I can't applaud this anymore or any
louder. And I'll tell you whatit is next on news Radio eleven ten kfa B