CNN’s Stephanie Elam could barely contain herself during the network’s coverage of the passing of OJ Simpson, the football superstar who was acquitted of murder in a case that played on racial divides. Elam said the quiet part out loud on Thursday, stating that Simpson’s acquittal was seen as a victory for the black community because he “got away with it.”
Elam began by implying that Simpson was some sort of civil rights hero. “And it’s also just worth noting how much was impacted by this trial, Jake. So many things happened,” Elam told CNN anchor Jake Tapper. “We saw policing changing here in the city. And it’s also worth noting, because of that unrest, that racial unrest in the 90s, that is why so many people who may not have been invested in O.J. Simpson were just happy to see that someone who was rich and famous and black could get away with what other people did in the system as well, too. could get away with what other people did in the system as well, too”
Simpson’s family announced that he had passed away after battling cancer for the last few months in a statement on Wednesday.
After his Hall of Fame NFL career came to an end, Simpson was famously acquitted in the double murder trial of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman. The trial is largely viewed as the first highly televised trial, leading to its nickname, “the trial of the century.”
In a separate case more than a decade later, Simpson was convicted by a jury in Las Vegas and sentenced to prison for leading a gang of five men — two of whom were armed — in an attempt to steal sports memorabilia at an off-strip Vegas casino.
Simpson was ultimately convicted in the Vegas case and was sentenced to nine years in Nevada prison. He was eventually released from prison on October 1, 2017, and was later released from parole in December 2021.
Leave a Reply