One of the most disturbing examples came from a bizarre 2006 hidden-camera project called Juiced.
The Bronco Joke That Went Too Far
Following the nationally televised “Trial of the Century,” Simpson was acquitted of murdering Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Although the verdict cleared him criminally, his public image had been permanently transformed.
In 2006, Simpson attempted something extraordinary: a television comeback.
The concept behind Juiced was supposed to be simple. Simpson would prank unsuspecting members of the public while cameras secretly recorded their reactions. The hope was apparently that viewers would laugh, move on and once again see Simpson as an entertainer.
Instead, some of the footage became deeply uncomfortable.
In one scene, Simpson appeared at a used-car dealership while pretending to sell a white Ford Bronco. The vehicle was an unmistakable reference to the same model associated with the infamous 1994
police chase that captivated the country.
While speaking with a prospective customer, Simpson described the vehicle as having “escapability.”
Then he explained exactly what he meant.
“If you ever get into some trouble and you gotta get away,” Simpson said on camera, “it has escapability.”
The customer then joked about whether there might be “a dead body inside.”
Simpson responded:
“Yeah, well, hopefully there’s no bodies in this thing.”
The remark was apparently intended as a joke. But considering the history surrounding Simpson and the white Bronco, the footage took on an entirely different meaning.
Fred Goldman, Ron Goldman’s father, condemned the stunt when the footage surfaced, describing the Bronco prank as “morally reprehensible.”
What Simpson Said When Nobody Prompted Him
The Bronco scene was not the only moment that raised eyebrows.
Rebecca Halpern, who directed the project, later described Simpson’s behavior away from the staged pranks as even more disturbing.
During one moment while Simpson was having his makeup done, he was watching television coverage involving the Kobe Bryant case. According to Halpern, Simpson began talking about rape without anyone prompting him.
“He goes on to say, ‘No doesn’t always mean no,'” Halpern said. “Nobody prompted him to say that.”
For members of the production team, that moment reportedly changed the atmosphere.
These were not carefully written lines delivered by an actor. They were comments made during the ordinary downtime surrounding a production that was supposed to help rehabilitate Simpson’s public image.
And that is precisely what makes the newly surfaced footage so compelling.
A Troubled History That Predated the Murders
Long before the 1994 murders, Simpson’s relationship with Nicole Brown Simpson had already generated serious concerns.
On New Year’s Day in 1989, police responded to a domestic-violence incident involving the couple. Nicole suffered visible injuries, including a split lip and black eye, while a handprint was reportedly visible on her neck.
Simpson ultimately received community service and probation in connection with the incident.
Police had reportedly been called to the Simpson residence eight times before that arrest.
Eight times.
Yet the story did not end there.
In 1995, Simpson was acquitted in criminal court of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. The verdict became one of the most controversial and heavily debated moments in modern American legal history.
Two years later, however, a civil jury reached a dramatically different conclusion.
The $33.5 Million Judgment
In 1997, a civil jury found Simpson liable for the deaths of Nicole and Ron Goldman and ordered him to pay $33.5 million in damages.
Much of that judgment remained unpaid for decades.
Simpson died in April 2024 at the age of 76 after battling prostate cancer. The Goldman family had recovered only a fraction of the money awarded to them, according to reports surrounding the judgment.
For the families involved, the case was never merely a sensational television spectacle.
It was about two people who were murdered and families left to live with the consequences.
Yet Simpson continued to appear in the public eye.
The Comeback That Backfired
Juiced was ultimately unable to deliver the comeback Simpson apparently wanted.
Distributors reportedly became uncomfortable with the project after learning more about its contents. Rather than becoming the beginning of a major television resurgence, the production was reduced to a pay-per-view special and DVD release before largely fading from public attention.
Now, nearly two decades later, the footage has returned.
The new docuseries offers viewers an opportunity to examine Simpson’s post-acquittal years through material that was never widely seen when it was originally recorded.
Halpern described the experience of making Juiced as a “roller-coaster ride of emotions.” Some members of the production reportedly hoped Simpson might eventually reveal something incriminating on camera.
One executive later told Halpern something that captured the unease surrounding the entire production.
“After I shook his hand when production was over,” the show’s VP told Halpern, “I thought to myself: ‘Were these the hands that killed somebody?'”
That question underscores the central tension surrounding Simpson’s public life.
The criminal case ended with an acquittal. The civil case ended with a massive financial judgment. And decades later, the arguments surrounding Simpson have never completely disappeared.
A Legacy Hollywood Could Never Fully Erase
Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the footage is not simply that Simpson made controversial jokes.
It is that he appeared determined to reclaim the celebrity status he enjoyed before the murders.
“He was so desperate for a comeback,” Halpern said, “to prove to the world that he was still this beloved figure – that he was willing to make jokes at his dead ex-wife’s expense.”
That pursuit of celebrity continued long after the courtroom cameras disappeared.
Simpson remained a recognizable public figure, appearing at golf events, autograph shows and other celebrity gatherings even as the Goldman family continued pursuing the judgment against him.
Meanwhile, Nicole’s family continued speaking about a woman they believed the public had gradually forgotten.
Nicole’s sister Denise Brown once put it bluntly:
“People forgot her.”
That may be the most important part of this entire story.
For decades, O.J. Simpson became the center of a national argument about race, celebrity, criminal justice and reasonable doubt. The media spectacle surrounding his trial became so enormous that the victims could sometimes seem secondary to the celebrity at the center of the controversy.
The newly released footage offers another reminder of what was lost in that spectacle.
Nicole Brown Simpson reportedly sought help just days before her death, asking how she could get somewhere Simpson could not find her.
She never got that chance.
Ron Goldman never got the chance either.
Simpson, however, received years of continued attention, opportunities to appear before cameras and even another attempt at becoming a television personality.
Now, more than 30 years after the murders, that old footage is back in front of the public.
And instead of providing the comeback Simpson apparently wanted, it may offer something far more revealing: an uncomfortable glimpse into the man behind the celebrity image.
