Simpson, who was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife and her friend following a high-profile 1995 criminal trial but later found responsible for their deaths in a civil lawsuit, reacted to the incident in a video shared to Twitter on Tuesday. Simpson’s tweet touted his own restraint in avoiding violent reactions to jokes and included the caption, “He was wrong but I understand the sentiment.”
“It was unfortunate, I think Will was wrong,” Simpson said in the video. “Uh, look, I understood the feeling…In my life, I’ve been through a lot of crap. I was raising two young kids and every comedian in the country had an O.J. routine, and don’t think I wouldn’t want to b-slap a couple of those guys.”
“But you’ve gotta accept it, it’s humor,” he added. “And I didn’t even think that was all that egregious. I thought it was a semi-unfunny joke, but I don’t know, I don’t get it.”
Simpson went on to say that he would have been sentenced to “life without” parole if he had lashed out in a similar manner, while referencing his 2008 conviction on robbery and kidnapping charges in Las Vegas. Simpson served almost nine years in prison before being released on parole in 2017. He has since been freed from parole.
Simpson prefaced his remarks on Smith by saying that he had expected to get more questions urging him to weigh in on a recent change to the NFL’s overtime rules. Prior to being accused of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman in 1994, Simpson was best known for his football and acting career.
Some on Twitter reacted to Simpson’s video with what appeared to be references to the murder accusations and mockery. User @kadenktnk commented, “hell yeah OJ! you’ve always defended your wife.”
The Oscars incident, broadcast live on Sunday, began when Smith approached Rock after the comedian made a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s baldness, which was caused by the medical condition alopecia. Smith unleashed an open-hand slap to Rock’s face, picked up on microphones as a loud thump.
After being struck, Rock said that the actor “just smacked the st out of me.” Smith returned to his seat and, visibly angry, repeatedly shouted toward Rock to “Keep my wife’s name out your fking mouth!”
Smith won the Best Actor Oscar for his starring role in King Richard shortly after the incident, attempting to explain his violent reaction and apologizing to the Academy and fellow nominees during his acceptance speech.
Rock received an apology from Smith on Monday. He has declined to press charges.
Newsweek reached out to Smith’s publicist for comment.
