O.J. Simpson was included in the 2024 BET Awards’ “In Memoriam” segment.
In the clip from the award ceremony, the audience seems to be enthusiastically applauding on Sunday as photos of the departed flashed onscreen, but when O.J.’s picture appeared, labeling him “Former NFL Player,” an awkward silence enveloped the room.
As the shock wore off, a few hesitant claps could be heard, but the atmosphere remained uneasy.
One thing was clear: O.J. didn’t come close to receiving the thunderous applause Clarence Avant, Willie Mays, Louis Gossett Jr., Carl Weathers, and Bill Cobbs did.
The In Memoriam segment was introduced as “honoring Black excellence that we unfortunately lost this year.”
WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW:
O.J. died in April at age 76 from prostate cancer, following several months in hospice care.
His passing stirred mixed reactions — some in the football community honored the athlete, while others remembered Simpson, who was acquitted of double murder in 1995, as a killer.
While in Aspen, Co, at the Little Nell hotel, I was taking photos of beautiful ladies in wonderful cowgirls garb: hat, fur, black shear top, black jeans and boots. OJ stood up from his embrace with his wife and asked if we wanted him in the pictures. The ladies said emphatically:” NO!”. He sat back down and we kept on with the pictures taking. PRESIDENT TRUMP ex wife was in the group. Many years later, I looked upon the forgotten photos and laughed. You should have seen his face!