O.J. Simpson’s death earlier this year created quite the conundrum when it comes to remembering his life.
On the one hand, he was one of the greatest athletes of all time and a cornerstone of American pop culture for the better part of nearly six decades.
On the other, he was an accused double-murderer, who while found not guilty in a criminal trial, was later found liable in civil court for the deaths of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
Yet despite the complicated nature of Simpson’s legacy — which one could certainly argue isn’t that complicated — BET opted to honor the Hall of Fame running back during the “In Memoriam” segment of its BET Awards on Sunday night. Simpson’s inclusion seemingly caught many in the audience off guard, and left them unsure how to respond after his face popped up on the screen during a segment that was introduced as “honoring Black excellence that we unfortunately lost this year.”
While the crowd politely applauded other late celebrities in the segment, including Willie Mays and Carl Weathers, there was an audible murmur and smattering of less enthusiastic applause when Simpson appeared on the screen listed as “former NFL player.” You can watch a clip of the segment here.
Simpson’s death in April resulted in many remembrances, most of which were far more thorough than BET’s on Sunday night. Kyle Brandt referred to him as a murderer, while Stephen A. Smith insisted the Heisman Trophy winner would have been found guilty in his criminal trial if he was on the jury and Bill Simmons took a big picture look at what Simpson has meant to both sports and society.
As the two football teams Simpson is most associated with — USC and the Buffalo Bills — showed, not acknowledging The Juice’s death is also an option. That, however, wasn’t the approach BET took. And while the network didn’t provide any additional context beyond his former profession, the mixed reaction from the audience said it all.
[TMZ]
