OJ Simpson’s Connection to ‘Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ Explained

OJ SimpsonTrial for the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman kept Americans glued to their television screens for months in the mid-1990s.

Two decades after Simpson was acquitted of the high-profile crime in 1995, he became an unexpected source of drama in the sixth season of “Simpson.” The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

When Kathryn Edwards In 2015, she joined the cast of the Bravo series. One of the first things she told about herself was that her ex-husband Marcus AllenHe was once best friends with Simpson. And Allen’s connection to the Simpson trial isn’t just limited to their friendship.

In May 1996, Allen testified as part of the wrongful death lawsuit filed against Simpson by the families of Brown and Goldman. During his testimony, Allen denied Simpson’s previous claims that he had a sexual relationship with Brown while she was still married to Simpson, CNN reported at the time. He also claimed that Simpson called him from prison and asked him to lie about his relationship with Brown. Allen said he ended his longtime friendship with Simpson after the phone call.

However, Faye Resnicka recurring friend/guest star RHOBAtold a different story in her 1994 book: Nicole Brown Simpson: The Private Diary of a Life Interrupted.

Resnick, who was friends with Brown and Simpson in the 1990s, claimed in the expose that Brown had confided in her about her alleged affair with Allen.

“Nicole told me that OJ threatened her: ‘If you ever get back together with Marcus, I’ll… I don’t know what I’ll do, but it’ll be bad.’ “I won’t be able to control myself,” Resnick wrote. “At times we were afraid that OJ might take revenge on Marcus by telling his fiancée Kathryn about the affair with Nicole.”

Because the book was published just months after the 1994 murders, it drew widespread criticism for its lurid details and timing. Nicole’s father, Lou Browncalled the book “TRASH” in an October 1994 statement. Los Angeles Times. He claimed that Resnick “wasn’t that close to Nicole” and that his daughter “took her in” because of her drug problem. (Resnick wrote about her cocaine use and rehab stints in the book.)

“I don’t know where she got all her misinformation from, but we can’t confirm it. And Nicole is not here to defend herself,” Lou added.

The controversial book appeared in the sixth season of RHOBA when Edwards, who was engaged to Allen when his alleged affair with Brown took place, crossed paths with Resnick at an event Lisa Vanderpump. Kyle Richards Edwards asked if she knew Resnick, and Edwards replied that she didn’t know. She then added that Resnick was lying if she said otherwise.

“My feelings toward Faye Resnick are not positive. She mentioned me in her book,” Edwards said during a confessional. “I never read it, but in the book she referred to me and said I was just a ‘turn a blind eye, look away’ kind of wife. A lot can be said about me. That’s not part of it.”

Later in the season, Edwards confronted Resnick during a dinner party at Richards’ home.

“If I didn’t say something, I would feel like I was wrong,” Edwards said, referring to Resnick’s “book” but without going into specific details.

“I can’t tell anyone about what happened over 20 years ago. “It’s been a very hard time and it’s sad,” Resnick replied.

Both women remained calm during the interaction, although Edwards said during a confessional that she felt “betrayed” because she was “ready to destroy Resnick.”

While Edwards and Resnick sidestepped the murders and Simpson’s trial during the conversation, Andy Cohen Edwards asked bluntly if she believed Simpson committed the murders during an episode of ” See what’s happening live.

“You know what, it’s one of those things where you don’t want to believe that someone you cared about and was friends with would be capable of something like that. “To be honest, I’d rather not even consider that idea,” she replied.

Edwards noted that she and Allen, who separated in 2001, were asked to testify during Simpson’s trial.

“We fought the subpoena,” she said. “We really wanted to stay out of it. At this stage of the game it’s such a tragic, tragic thing and we don’t want to be involved.”

Edwards and Allen were married in 1993 at Simpson’s Brentwood home, and the couple appears to appear in the suicide note Simpson wrote in 1994, shortly before he was seen driving at slow speeds with Los Angeles police on television and was subsequently arrested.

“Marcus, you have a great wife in Catherine, don’t screw it up,” Simpson wrote, seemingly mixing up the spelling of Edwards’ first name.

Edwards and Resnick aren’t the only ones RHOBA Stars with a connection to Simpson. Current actor Erika Jayne And Yolanda Hadidwho appeared in the series from seasons 3 to 6 Robert Shapiro to thank you for your friendship. Along with Johnnie Cochran And Robert KardashianShapiro was a member of Simpson’s “dream team” legal counsel during the murder trial.

In her 2009 memoir Pretty messed upEdwards wrote that her “good friend Robert Shapiro” introduced her David Foster when he was still married to Hadid and they later “became all friends.”

Richards also has a tangential Simpson connection. Not only is she close friends with Resnick; Kris JennerKardashian’s ex-wife.

Simpson died in April 2024 at the age of 76 after a battle with cancer. He maintained his innocence until his death, although in February 1997 he was found liable for the wrongful death of Goldman and the charges against Nicole. He was ordered to pay $8.5 million in compensatory damages to the Goldman family and $12.5 million in punitive damages each to the Goldman family.