In his weekly appearance on the It Is What It Is podcast talking NFL, OJ Simpson was asked to weigh in on trust between men and women in relationships and turned the conversation in a shocking direction.
The panel discussed Shaquille O’Neal’s comments last week that men sharing secrets with women ends up backfiring the minute the going gets tough, and the nefarious Simpson went first.
“When you say ‘open up to women,’ I don’t know what he’s talking about,” Simpson said. “Is he talking about confessing? No man, don’t confess. I think he’s right. Don’t say nothing … leave me out of the confession.”
A conversation about men opening up to women led to this uncomfortable exchange about OJ Simpson's thoughts on confessing (via 'It Is What It Is') pic.twitter.com/cXuh7HOJTW
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Simpson, of course, is most known for one of the biggest criminal trials in U.S. history over the death of his late ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson. He was found not guilty but later lost a civil case that found him liable for the deaths of both Brown Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman, who was killed the same night.
Simpson was allegedly involved in the making of a book called If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer in 2006.
While Simpson did not overtly reference his criminal history in the conversation on IIWII, the response from hosts Cam’Ron and Mase said it all. Even the best reading on Simpson’s reference to “confessing” here has him making a joke out of the brutal deaths of his late ex-wife and her close friend.
Cam’Ron has defended bringing Simpson on the show, arguing that he believes Simpson is innocent in the two deaths.
The uncomfortable return of Simpson to a relatively large platform was bound to barge into this territory. And playing his past for laughs is likely painful for anyone connected to Goldman, Brown Simpson or the wider fallout from their deaths.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.