OJ Simpson dies of cancer aged 76, his family has announced

OJ Simpson, the former NFL player and actor who was acquitted of the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman, and was later imprisoned for armed robbery and kidnapping, has died following a battle with cancer at the age of 76, his family has announced.

In a post to Simpson's social media channels, the family statement read: "On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with prostate cancer.

"He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren. During this time of transition, his family asks that you please respect their wishes for privacy and grace."

During his football career, Simpson - nicknamed "The Juice" - played college football for USC before being drafted No.1 overall by the Buffalo Bills in 1969.

Within his decade-long period in the NFL, Simpson was considered to be one of the greatest running backs of all time where he played for the Bills and later the San Francisco 49ers.

Following his retirement from the sport in 1979, the record-setting footballer was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Simpson then pivoted to acting where appeared in films and TV shows such as Detective Nordberg in the "Naked Gun" films, "Roots" and "The Towering Inferno," as well as uncredited appearances in episodes of "Ironside" and "Dragnet."

But in 1994, the world turned its attention to Simpson who was accused of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman after they were found stabbed to death outside her Los Angeles home.

He became a suspect and was ordered to surrender to police but instead fled and live coverage of police pursuing Simpson in a Ford Bronco SUV was widely televised.

Simpson was charged with the murders and the trial that took place over 11 months was described as "the trial of the century," by the American media, which sparked wider discourse in society about race, gender, domestic abuse and police misconduct.

O.J. Simpson shows the jury a new pair of Aris extra-large gloves, similar to the gloves found at the Bundy and Rockingham crime scene 21 June 1995, during his double murder trial in Los Angeles,CA. Deputy Sheriff Roland Jex(L) and Prosecutor Christopher Darden (R) look on.VINCE BUCCI/AFP via Getty Images

Jurors found Simpson not guilty of the crimes and he was acquitted.

However, in 2008, Simpson was convicted of armed robbery and kidnapping in Las Vegas after he along with armed men, attempted to retrieve sports memorabilia he claimed belonged to him.

After serving the minimum portion of his 33-year sentence, Simpson was granted parole in 2017 - "I'm sorry things turned out the way they did. I had no intent to commit a crime," he said at his parole hearing.

In recent years, Simpson had been active on social media since he joined Twitter in 2019 where he announced he was going to have some fun on the platform and had some "getting even to do."

Before his death, Simpson had health struggles as he underwent emergency heart surgery last year and was later diagnosed with prostate cancer.

While Simpson's cancer diagnosis became public earlier this year, he took to X, formerly Twitter to fire back at reports he was in a hospice.

“Hey X world, hospice? Hospice? You talking about hospice? No, I’m not in any hospice. I don’t know who put that out there. I guess it’s like Donald [Trump] says, ‘You can’t trust the media.’

“In any event, I’m hosting a ton of friends for the Super Bowl here in Las Vegas. All is well, you know. So take care, have a good Super Bowl weekend.”

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