No evidence O.J. Simpson posted ‘I did it’ on day of his death
The screenshot has been digitally altered
CLAIM
An image was shared on X purporting to be a screenshot of a tweet by O.J. Simpson reading: “I did it.” The uploader claimed it was the last thing Simpson posted before he died.
BACKGROUND
The death was announced on April 11 of former NFL star and actor O.J. Simpson. The athlete and media personality stood trial in 1994 over the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman — in what became one of the most famous and highly publicised criminal trials the U.S. has ever seen.
The athlete and media personality was acquitted of the murders in the criminal trial. The victims’ families later took Simpson to court in a civil trial, where he was found liable for the deaths and ordered to pay over $30 million in damages.
Despite his acquittal in the criminal trial, the murder accusation levelled against O.J. Simpson fascinated the public and became a divisive matter of public opinion in 1990s America.
When O.J. Simpson’s death was announced, social platforms reignited with speculation about the accusations. One post on X by @marionumber4 included a supposed screenshot of a post on O.J. Simpson’s official account on April 10, the day of his death, which said: “I did it.” The image also said that the purported post by O.J. Simpson’s account had been deleted.
The uploader wrote: “This was the last thing OJ Simpson tweeted before he passed. What did he mean by this?”
The post had over 100,000 views just an hour and a half after it was published, and more than 1,000 likes.
METHOD
A look through the uploader’s X account revealed that he posts primarily satire, with his bio describing himself as a “shitposter” and saying: “I make and post memes and other silly tweets.”
The alleged post by O.J. Simpson’s account had been deleted, according to the image. An advanced search of O.J. Simpson’s tweets using the phrase “I did it” did not yield any results.
His last post on X before the announcement of his death was a video message on February 11, in which he discussed football and his health.
A search of O.J. Simpson’s X activity on the Wayback Machine showed no archival activity on April 10, 2024, and no news coverage of the supposed post.
Furthermore, O.J. Simpson has denied any involvement in the murders of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman for decades.
From this analysis, we concluded that there is no evidence that O.J. Simpson posted anything on X on April 10 and that the image was altered to look like a screenshot from his account.
RATING
There is no proof that O.J. Simpson’s account posted on April 10, 2024.
SOURCES
X (formerly Twitter). (2024). Available at: This was the last thing OJ Simpson tweeted before he passed. What did he mean by this? [Accessed 11 Apr. 2024].
X (formerly Twitter). (2024). Available at: I’m from the Bay and I’m going with Bay!!! Lets go @49ers [Accessed 11 Apr. 2024].
X (formerly Twitter). (2024). Available at: “I did it” (from:TheRealOJ32) [Accessed 11 Apr. 2024].
Archive.org. (2020). Available at: Wayback Machine. [online] [Accessed 11 Apr. 2024].