O.J. Simpson has reinvented himself — as our greatest internet troll.
The 72-year-old former athlete, actor, pitchman, felon and the monster found liable in a civil trial for the wrongful deaths of his ex-wife Nicole Brown (whose head was nearly severed) and her friend Ron Goldman, took to Twitter this summer, right after the 25th anniversary of the slayings.
Most of his posts are videos, averaging 90 seconds long, fairly begging for public outrage. After all, when it comes to narcissistic psychopaths, negative attention is better than no attention at all.
“Hello, Twitter world, this is yours truly,” he said in his inaugural video (and every post since — that’s the showman in him, always with a catchphrase). “I got a little gettin’ even to do.”
Subtle.
His handle — unverified by the site but confirmed by the AP as Simpson’s — is @TheRealOJ32, the number he wore throughout his NFL career. He notes his residence as Las Vegas and currently has 915,000 followers.
Less than two years out of prison — serving almost nine years of a 33-year-sentence for a 2007 assault, robbery and use of a deadly weapon, among other charges — Simpson, now 72, has proved an adroit user of social media. In his third post, he denied rumors that he is Khloe Kardashian’s real father (nearly 4 million views).
“Tasteless,” he scoffed.
That one word is his knowing meta-commentary on this entire enterprise. Simpson is not just in on the joke; he’s writing the material, performing at his best level since his first trial, and in effect, telling us something ugly: We may live in cancel culture, but O.J. will not be among its exiles.
And why would he be? Simpson is shameless, charismatic, defiant. He adapts. He is perhaps the most unrepentant figure of consequence in our popular culture, his Twitter feed performance art. It’s comedy at its most enraging, daring us not to laugh.
On Antonio Brown: “I wish I’d given him legal advice.”
On his self-image: “I always thought my ego was under control.”
On the Democratic debates: “Don’t point the fingers about what somebody once did or may have done.”
He mostly talks football — critiquing games, players, his own fantasy football team. It seems like he’s looking for a broadcasting gig, and though it’s unthinkable anyone would hire him, the traction his Twitter feed gets proves he still has currency in America. His money is good here.
When Simpson first launched his account, he said his purpose was to “set the record straight,” which has about as much credibility as his self-proclaimed lifelong hunt for Nicole and Ron’s “real killer.”
As ever, Simpson has only one intent: Running game.