Nicole Brown Simpson (née Brown; May 19, 1959 – June 12, 1994) was the second wife of American football player O. J. Simpson. Brown met Simpson in 1977 and they married in 1985, five years after Simpson had retired from professional American football. Their marriage lasted eight years and they had a daughter and a son.
Nicole Brown Simpson | |
|---|---|
 Brown in 1993 | |
| Born | Nicole Brown May 19, 1959 |
| Died | June 12, 1994 (aged 35) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Murder by knife wounds[1] |
| Resting place | Ascension Cemetery, Lake Forest, California 33.6512°N 117.6935°W |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
On June 12, 1994, Brown was killed outside her Brentwood home, along with her friend, waiter Ron Goldman. Following a highly publicized criminal trial, Simpson was acquitted of all charges.
In a civil lawsuit in 1997, he was found liable for both deaths.
Early life
Brown was born on May 19, 1959, in Frankfurt, West Germany,[2][3] to Juditha Anne "Judy" Brown (née Baur) and Louis Hezekiah "Lou" Brown Jr.[4][5] Her mother was German, and her father American.[3][6] She was the second of four daughters (Denise, Dominique and Tanya being the other three).[7] From her father's previous marriage, she also had two older half-sisters (Wendy and Margit) and one older half-brother (Tracy).[8] After moving to the United States, she attended Rancho Alamitos High School in Garden Grove, California.[9] She graduated from Dana Hills High School, in Dana Point, California, in 1976.[10] She was raised Catholic.[11]
In Brown's 1976 senior yearbook from Dana Hills High School, her nickname is "nick" and her quote is that she: "remembers Jr. Sr. prom, kissing a pumpkin at the homecoming dance '74, one of the semi-finalists for Homecoming, plans to ski Europe, go to Brooks photo school, get Scott, 'Be yourself, don't be phony, you don't have to do anything.'"[12] Brown's mention of "Brooks photo school" was referring to The Brooks Institute of Photography that operated from 1945 to 2016 in the Santa Barbara, California area, a two-hour drive from her high school.
Relationship with O. J. Simpson
Early relationship
Brown met American football player O. J. Simpson in 1977,[13] when she was an 18-year-old waitress at The Daisy, a Beverly Hills nightclub.[14][15][16][17] They began dating while Simpson was still married to his first wife, Marguerite, who was then pregnant with their daughter Aaren. Simpson and Marguerite divorced in March 1979.[18] Brown had a non-speaking acting part as "Passenger on Bus" in the 1980 TV film Detour to Terror, executive produced by Simpson who starred in the film.[19]
During the 1984 Summer Olympics torch relay, Simpson carried the torch on Santa Monica's California Incline road, running behind Brown.[20]
In the June 3, 2024 issue of People, Brown's older sister Denise revealed that Simpson was at times hostile to Nicole even during the early days of their relationship, including on one occasion in 1977 after she and her family went to upstate New York to attend a Buffalo Bills game which Simpson was playing in.[21] According to Denise, Simpson "flipped out" during this occasion after seeing Nicole kiss a mutual male friend on the cheek and "had her in the upstairs bathroom crying. He said, ‘You embarrassed me.’ "[21]
Marriage
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Brown and Simpson were married on February 2, 1985, five years after his retirement from professional football.[22] The couple had two children, Sydney Brooke Simpson (b. 1985) and Justin Ryan Simpson (b. 1988),[23] both delivered via caesarian section.[24] Additionally, she had three abortions[25] (one outside of wedlock).[26] The marriage lasted seven years.[27] According to Denise Brown, Nicole considered becoming a mom to be a crowning achievement, though Simpson became more volatile towards her afterwards.[21]
Among the more caustic accounts, Bethy Vaquerano, a maid to Nicole, in a letter outlined in American Tragedy: The Uncensored Story of the Simpson Defense, described Nicole as being abusive towards Simpson and that Nicole was racist and antisemitic.[28] Some sources claimed that Nicole was determined to keep her children's biracial identity as much of a nonissue as possible and that she, and Simpson's friend, Tom McCollum, called Simpson "Largehead," Nicole using the word in a condescending manner.[29] Jennifer Young (the daughter of realtor Elaine Young who sold Simpson the Rockingham house) and Victoria Sellars also claimed that Nicole pulled up once while they were with Simpson and that Nicole accused him of angrily cheating on her. Young said Simpson remained calm throughout the incident.[30] Jennifer Peace said that Al Cowlings described loud fights between Simpson and Brown and that Nicole would berate her husband with racial slurs.[31]
Simpson emotionally, verbally, and physically abused Brown throughout their relationship and continued after their divorce. According to Nicole's sister Dominique, Simpson referred to her as a "fat pig" during a pregnancy.[21] During an incident on New Year's Day 1989, a police report indicated Simpson said: "I don't want that woman [Brown] sleeping in my bed anymore! I got two women, and I don't want that woman in my bed anymore."[3] A family friend claimed that Simpson had told Brown's friends that if he ever "caught her with anyone, he would kill her".[32]
On December 31, Brown phoned the police, saying that she thought Simpson was going to kill her. She was found by officers hiding in the bushes outside their home, "badly beaten and half-naked". Authorities said Simpson had "punched, slapped, and kicked" her. Simpson pleaded no contest to spousal abuse.[27][32] Brown dropped the charges after her parents allegedly encouraged her to reconcile with Simpson, who was enabling her father, Louis, to invest in a lucrative Hertz car rental facility at The Ritz Carlton at Monarch Bay, California, which significantly benefited the Brown family financially.[33]
In addition to the physical abuse, Simpson was also an avid womanizer who engaged in numerous infidelities while married to Nicole.[34] In the 2016 documentary O.J.: Made in America, Simpson and Nicole's old Brentwood friend Robin Greer said that Simpson and Nicole constantly fought over his affairs with other women.[34] Greer even noted how Simpson made repeated advances towards her as well.[34]
Divorce
At the time of their separation, Simpson informed Brown of his ongoing one-year extramarital affair with Tawny Kitaen.[35] In January 1992, Brown moved into a rental home in Brentwood, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California – a 4-bedroom, Tudor-style house with 3,400 square feet on Gretna Green Way where she lived for 2 years.[36]
Simpson filed for divorce on February 25, 1992, citing irreconcilable differences.[37] They then shared custody of their children Sydney Brooke (age 7) and Justin Ryan (age 4).
Ongoing relationship and abuse
Reports suggest that in 1993, after the divorce, Brown and Simpson made an attempt at reconciliation.[32] During this time Simpson continued his abuse of Brown.[38] Brown told her mother after the divorce that Simpson was following her, stating, "I go to the gas station, he’s there. I go to the Payless shoe store, and he’s there. I’m driving, and he’s behind me.'"[39]
On October 25, 1993, Brown called the police to report Simpson being violent again, after he allegedly found a photo of a man Brown had dated while they were broken up. Brown called 911, crying and saying that Simpson was "going to beat the shit out of me".[40] Simpson angrily shouted in the background, "You did not give a shit about the kids when you were (having sex with him) in the living room! They were here! Didn't care about the kids then!"[41] Simpson also expressed frustration regarding Brown surrounding herself with and exposing her children to frequent drug users, prostitutes and drug dealers. Several times, Simpson expressed disappointment in the dangerous choices Nicole had made and concern for his children. Simpson repeatedly said, "I’m leaving with my two fucking kids is when I’m leaving."[42]
When the police arrived, Brown was secretly recorded by Sgt. Craig Lally. "He gets a very animalistic look in him," Brown stated. "All his veins pop out, his eyes are black and just black, I mean cold, like an animal. I mean very, very weird. And when I see it, it just scares me." Brown also stated Simpson had not hit her in four years, referring to the January 1, 1989 incident as the last time Simpson had become physical with her.[43]
Several months after this incident, Brown moved out of their shared home and the relationship ended.[40]
Post-divorce life
Brown met and became friends with Kato Kaelin on a skiing trip in Aspen, Colorado, in December 1992. He later moved into the guest house on Brown's property on Gretna Green Way and lived there for a year. He paid rent and helped take care of Sydney and Justin as part of the living arrangement.[44] She also entertained other suitors, including restaurateur Keith Zlomsowitch and Marcus Allen.[45][46][47] Despite speculation of her having been a recreational drug user during this time, there is no solid evidence of Nicole Brown Simpson using drugs; she had no drugs in her system at the time of her death and her house was clear of paraphernalia.[48][49]
In January 1994, Brown moved just a few minutes away from her Gretna Green house to a three-story, rental townhome on Bundy Drive in Brentwood. It was a Mediterranean-style residence that was 3,400 square feet with multiple patios and a "rooftop sundeck."[50] In Brown's Brentwood neighborhood, situated near the base of the Santa Monica mountains and four miles from the ocean, were country clubs, local and state parks, hiking trails, and popular attractions like the Santa Monica Pier. At the time she drove a Ferrari[51] - which she would later lend to Ron Goldman whom she had met some six weeks prior to their deaths. The upscale area had shops, restaurants, and grocery markets near her home. Nicole's sister Denise described this period in a 1994 interview, saying that Nicole "was just so vivacious, so full of life" and "I was so happy for her. For the first time in her life, she was able to have her own friends. We were talking about going to Yosemite, camping, taking the kids to Club Med. Everything was going to revolve around the kids."[52]
Death
Final days
On March 16, 1994, Brown and her children attended the premiere for Simpson's newest film, Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult.[53] According to Brown's close friends, Brown stalked Simpson and initiated a reconciliation attempt in 1993. She repeatedly begged him to come back to her, and sent him a letter apologizing, sending him their wedding video. When Simpson broke up with his girlfriend, Paula, and went back to Nicole, she started controlling him again.[54] Kaelin who resided a year with Nicole and her children, claimed in a book by Marc Eliot that he witnessed Nicole becoming very belligerent and out of control when drinking too much tequila when out in social settings.
Brown met 25-year-old restaurant waiter Ron Goldman six weeks prior to their deaths. According to police and friends, they had a platonic relationship, occasionally meeting for coffee and dinner. Goldman borrowed her Ferrari when he met a friend for lunch. The friend, Craig Clark, stated that Goldman told him it was his friend Nicole's car.[55]
Brown developed pneumonia in May and Simpson came to her house to care for her.[56] Simpson left for Palm Springs Memorial Day weekend 1994.[57] Just one day before the murders, Brown and her close friend Kris Jenner spoke on the phone, making plans to go to lunch the next day.[58] Kris said in an interview that Nicole wanted to confide in her about something "very important" and possibly reveal information about her "volatile" relationship with Simpson, but Brown was murdered before they could meet.[58]
June 12, 1994
At the time of her death, Brown resided at 875 South Bundy Drive in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, with her two children.[59][60][61] On the evening of June 12, Brown took Sydney and a friend out to dinner after the children's dance recital.[51] The defence team would cite that Nicole had an intense argument on the phone, overheard by eight-year-old Sydney Simpson upstairs,[62] and that a witness named Tom Lang saw Nicole arguing with two men in the area of the sidewalk near the front of her house shortly after 10:00 that night.[63] Nicole's mother, Juditha, told police and investigators in a sworn statement that she was speaking with her daughter on the telephone at 11:00pm that night.[64] Those phone records were sealed. Brown and Goldman were stabbed to death outside her home; their bodies were found shortly after midnight. Brown was lying in the fetal position in a pool of blood.[65] An autopsy determined that she had been stabbed seven times in the neck and scalp and had sustained a 14 cm-long (5.5 inches) gash across her throat, which had severed both her left and right carotid arteries and breached her right and left jugular veins.[65] The wound on Brown's neck penetrated 1.9 cm (0.75 inches) into her cervical vertebrae,[65] nearly decapitating her.[40][66] She also had defensive wounds on her hands.[65]
Brown's funeral was held on June 16 at the St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church in Brentwood,[67] with mourners including Simpson and their two children,[68] members of Brown's family, Al Cowlings, house guest Kato Kaelin, and Steve Garvey.[69] Brown is buried in Ascension Cemetery[70] in Lake Forest, California.[71]
On June 22, Brown's sister, Denise was quoted by the New York Times that she did not think of Nicole as a battered woman, even after Simpson was charged with assault on New Year's Eve 1989.[72]
Trials
Criminal trial
Simpson was tried for the murders of Brown and Goldman. The defense retained renowned advocate for victims of domestic abuse Lenore E. Walker.[73] Cochran said that she would testify that Simpson does not fit the profile of an abuser that would murder his spouse; "He has good control over his impulses. He appears to control his emotions well."[74] Nicole's friend, Cora Fischman, testified that Nicole never said anything to her about being abused by Simpson during the months leading up to the murders.[75] In October 1995, after a public trial that lasted nearly nine months and despite prosecutors' arguments that Simpson was implicated by forensic evidence, he was acquitted.
Civil trial
In a 1997 civil trial filed by Fred Goldman, Ron Goldman's father, a jury found Simpson liable for the wrongful deaths of Brown and Goldman and awarded $33.5 million in damages to the Goldmans. However, Simpson never paid the "lion's share"[76] of this award to the Goldmans due to protections from his bankruptcy filing and pension income.[77]
Custody of children
In 1996, after the conclusion of the criminal trial, a judge granted Simpson's petition to give him full custody of Sydney and Justin.[78] Brown's parents continued unsuccessfully to fight for custody[79][80][81] until 2006, when Justin turned 18 and legally became an adult (Sydney turned 18 in 2003).
Legacy
Foundation
The Nicole Brown Simpson Foundation was established in 1994 in her memory.[82] Later renamed the Nicole Brown Charitable Foundation, it reportedly cut back on grantmaking in 1999 due to a drop in donations and questionable management practices.[83][84]
Tributes
In a rare 1996 VHS video by her parents called A Tribute to Nicole, she is described as having had a "happy childhood" growing up in a "close family" and as "lov[ing] interior decorating."[85] Clips from the family's home movies show her as a young girl playing with stuffed animals, swimming in a pool, dancing, carrying school books, and blowing out birthday candles on cupcakes. Her mother calls Nicole "warm", "wonderful", and "free-spirited".[85]
Kato Kaelin described Nicole in a 2024 interview as a "beautiful" friend who was a "beacon of light, always bright, always fun".[86] Kris Jenner said Nicole was "one of [her] best friends"[87] with whom she often took family vacations.[88] Jenner also shared memories of a Los Angeles restaurant she used to frequent with Nicole and their mutual friend, Faye Resnick.[89]
Nicole's sister, Tanya Brown, said in a 2019 interview that "Nicole was a mom: she put her kids first, she put everybody else first. My sister had the ability to live life, live it bright, live it large."[90] That same year, Tanya wrote an article claiming that she had forgiven Simpson, despite believing him responsible for her sister's murder.[91]
Kris Jenner named her fourth daughter, Kendall Nicole Jenner, after Brown.[88] Kendall was born 17 months after Brown's death.
Filmmaker Ezra Edelman, who directed the documentary O.J.: Made in America, dedicated his Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature to both Brown and Goldman in his acceptance speech.
Death of parents
On July 3, 2014, Brown's father, Louis Hezekiah "Lou" Brown Jr., died aged 90. He was interred next to Nicole in Ascension Cemetery in Lake Forest, California. Nicole's headstone (which had space on the headstone for an additional inscription) was altered to include her father.[92]
On November 8, 2020, Brown's mother, Juditha Anne "Judi" Baur Brown, died aged 89. She was interred in Ascension Cemetery next to her husband and daughter. Nicole's original headstone was replaced by a larger one that included the inscriptions for both of her parents on it.[93]
Property
Two years after the deaths of Brown and Goldman, the townhouse at 875 South Bundy Drive[59][60][61] was extensively remodeled by a new owner, who also had the address changed.[94]
Media
Book
"Nicole. Jesus. I looked down and saw her on the ground in front of me, curled up in a fetal position at the base of the stairs, not moving. Goldman was only a few feet away, slumped against the bars of the fence. He wasn't moving either. Both he and Nicole were lying in giant pools of blood. I had never seen so much blood in my life. It didn't seem real, and none of it computed."
If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer, Simpson (2006), p. 81.
Simpson wrote a book, If I Did It, a first-person account of how he would have committed the murders if he had committed them. In Simpson's hypothetical scenario, he has an unwilling accomplice named "Charlie" who urges him to not engage with Nicole, whom Simpson plans to "scare the shit out of".[95] Simpson ignores Charlie's advice and continues to Nicole's condo, where he finds and confronts Ron Goldman. According to the book, Nicole falls and hits her head on the concrete, and Goldman crouches in a karate pose. As the confrontation escalates, Simpson writes, "Then something went horribly wrong, and I know what happened, but I can't tell you how."[96] He writes that he regained consciousness later with no memory of the actual act of murder.[95]
Simpson's eldest daughter, Arnelle Simpson, testified in a deposition that she and Van Exel, president of Raffles Entertainment and Music Production, came up with the idea for the book and pitched it to her father in an attempt to make money.[97] She testified that her father thought about it and eventually agreed to the book deal.[97] Simpson stated, "I have nothing to confess. This was an opportunity for my kids to get their financial legacy. My kids understand. I made it clear that it's blood money, but it's no different than any of the other writers who did books on this case."[97]
According to court documents, in August 2007, as part of the multi-million dollar civil jury award against Simpson to ensure he would not be able to profit from the book, the Goldman family were granted the proceeds from the book. The Goldman family still own the copyright, media rights, and movie rights[98] and have acquired Simpson's name, likeness, life story, and right of publicity in connection with the book. After renaming the book If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer, the Goldman family published it in September 2007 through Beaufort Books.[99] Denise Brown, Nicole Brown's sister, criticized the Goldmans for publishing the book and accused them of profiting from Nicole's and Ron's deaths.[100]
Documentary
Upon Simpson's death in 2024, Lifetime announced a two-part documentary about Brown was in development titled The Life and Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson, which aired on June 1 and 2, 2024.[101]
Portrayals
Brown is portrayed by:
- Jessica Tuck (1995) The O. J. Simpson Story (television movie)[102]
- Kelly Dowdle (2016) The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story[103]
- Mena Suvari (2019) The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson[104]
- Charlotte Kirk (2025) The Juice[105]
See also
References
External links
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