O.J. Simpson tried to stage a paparazzi run-in, winds up in weird encounter with TMZ photographer

O.J. Simpson is newly released from prison, but he is apparently not content to simply go about his life away from the public eye.

According to TMZ, Simpson attempted to stage a run-in with paparazzi, in which he would get to give supposedly off-the-cuff thoughts about the recent mass shooting in Las Vegas. He was planning the encounter at a Vegas country club when he was reportedly overheard by a TMZ photographer, who then confronted him. Here is how TMZ describes the thoroughly bizarre incident:

Simpson was having dinner at a posh Vegas country club where our photog overheard him planning a TMZ-style video shoot. He was going over the shoot with the people at his table.

When he got to the parking lot, it was lights, camera action and O.J. offered up his “thoughts and prayers” while his friend recorded. 

Our photog fired up his camera to ask some questions, but apparently that really screwed things up. O.J.’s photog tries to run our guy out of the shot, but Simpson realized his plan had been foiled and beelined it for his car.

And here’s the video of Simpson bailing as the TMZ reporter attempts to get him to open up about his golf game and the TV shows that have been made about him.

TMZ points out that a previous interview O.J. did with “paparazzi” looks a bit suspicious in retrospect. We’re not really concerned about that as much as by the fact that Simpson, at 70 years old, still might be carefully crafting his public image, using fakeouts and cheap tricks. Could that mean he would be open to the type of television special producers have reportedly pined for? Could this so-called paparazzi footage be part of a plan for some kind of film he is planning himself? Is it time we all stop worrying about the minutiae of O.J. Simpson’s life and just ignore this kind of nonsense?

So many questions.

[TMZ]