Twitter got its latest controversial inhabitant Saturday; O.J. Simpson joined the social media network late last week, promising to use his new, as-yet-unverified account to “set the record straight.”
CNN reports that Simpson kicked off his Twitter experiment with a video explaining that he believes the time has come to respond to his “critics” and “set the record straight,” though he didn’t specify exactly what criticisms he hopes to address. He also suggested that he may use his newfound connection to a social media audience to “get even.”
“You know, for years people have been able to say whatever they want to say about me with no accountability. But now I get to challenge a lot of that B.S. and set the record straight,” Simpson says in a video, apparently shot at the home he’s made for himself after leaving prison in Las Vegas, Nevada nearly two years ago.
“More importantly, I’ll be able to talk about everything, especially sports and fantasy football, and even politics,” Simpson added. “But for now let me just say, to my fellow fathers out there: happy Father’s Day.”
In the same video, Simpson claims that he’s “got a little getting even to do”: “Coming soon to Twitter, you’ll get to read all my thoughts and opinions on just about everything.”
“It should be a lot of fun,” Simpson says.
Coming Soon!!! pic.twitter.com/R1tXOuuLgO
— O.J. Simpson (@TheRealOJ32) June 15, 2019
The videos are tagged as being shot in Las Vegas, even though Simpson was briefly rumored to be considering a move to Florida. And although the account, “@TheRealOJ32” is unverified, Simpson’s attorney, Malcolm LaVergne, confirmed that the account belongs to THE O.J. Simpson and not an imposter. LaVergne was, reportedly, involved in the decision to allow Simpson onto social media.
“Mr. Simpson is the most positive person I’ve ever met,” LaVergne told CNN. “He’s also very well informed on current events. He will not be negative. Nor will he comment on the LA thing. It will be one of the best accounts on Twitter to follow.”
The “LA thing” LaVergne is referencing is, of course, the gruesome murder of O.J.’s former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her acquaintance, Ronald Goldman. Simpson was famously acquitted of the murders, even though public opinion had largely settled on Simpson as the killer.
The murders, oddly, happened on June 12, 1994 — almost exactly 25 years before Simpson decided to “speak out” to a new audience. CNN adds that Monday, June 17, is the 25th anniversary of the famous slow-speed police chase where Simpson tried to run from the Los Angeles Police Department in a white Ford Bronco.
Although Simpson was ultimately found not guilty in his criminal trial, he was found responsible for Brown Simpson’s and Goldman’s deaths in a subsequent civil trial. Years later, Simpson was arrested and charged with kidnapping and attempted burglary for taking part in an armed robbery of a sports memorabilia store in Las Vegas. He was sentenced to up to 33 years in prison for the crime but was given parole in 2017, after serving around 9 years.
Simpson’s lawyer told CNN that the former football star has spent his days since earning parole playing golf on courses in and around Las Vegas since he isn’t allowed to leave the state as a condition of his early release. Now, of course, Simpson is going to have another pastime: speaking his “truth” on Twitter.