Orenthal James “O.J.” Simpson, former American football star and actor, died yesterday at the age of 76. Simpson, whose life was overshadowed by the infamous trial in which he was accused and ultimately acquitted of the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman, not to mention a subsequent 2008 armed robbery conviction, remained a figure of intense public scrutiny until his last days. However, his final years after being released from prison in 2017 were marked not by sports or film, but instead by his unlikely emergence as a prolific social media user, where he developed a “posthumous” reputation as a poster discussing topics ranging from sports commentary to racial justice.

Simpson’s transition to social media came long after his public fall from grace, and he started his Twitter journey in 2019 with a post declaring he had “a little getting even to do”. The platform offered him a direct line to the public, bypassing the traditional media that had, in his view, made up its mind that he was a murderer. Simpson’s tweets, often controversial, reflected an ongoing battle to reshape his narrative. He commented on everything from NFL games to significant social and political events, even giving his take on other high-profile legal cases such as Derek Chauvin’s trial for the murder of George Floyd.

This posthumous-style poster’s existence on social media — where Simpson tried to resurrect a semblance of the public figure he once was — serves as a striking modern-day reflection of how legacy and infamy intermingle in the digital age. Unlike fellow sports star Mike Tyson, who was convicted of rape but used the ensuing decades to reposition himself as a misunderstood and tragic figure, Simpson never came close to winning over the public or regaining control of his narrative.

Critics and followers alike debated whether Simpson’s social media persona was a genuine attempt at public engagement or a calculated effort to influence his legacy. The dynamics of “cancel culture”, where public figures are socially ostracised for their actions or statements, played out in real-time with Simpson’s posts. Until his death, he remained a prolific poster, attracting nearly 900,000 followers on X and showcasing a widespread public fascination with his persona.

Sometimes, he succeeded at becoming meme-worthy, his posts serving as fodder for jokes and offering him a form of semi-redemption at least in the eyes of newer, younger audiences. These generations, who did not live through the immediacy of his murder trial, likely found Simpson’s transition to a social media personality less jarring, unlike those for whom the notorious car chase was a relatively recent memory. Some older celebrities, such as radio host Howard Stern, even demanded that he be banned from the platform.

Simpson’s death marks the end of a complex chapter in American cultural history. His “posthumous” posting existence on social media, met with a mix of continued broader condemnation and troll-style engagement, serves as a reminder of the enduring complexity of his legacy and the ever-changing dynamics of public life in the digital era. Each post of Simpson’s represented one more attempt at a comeback that never arrived yet, for better or worse, he kept the public engaged until the bitter end.

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Oliver Bateman is a historian and journalist based in Pittsburgh. He blogs, vlogs, and podcasts at his Substack, Oliver Bateman Does the Work

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