NBC’s Bob Costas recalls visiting OJ Simpson in prison and OJ’s awkward joke about the murders

During his visit to “The TODAY Show,” the legendary host also recalled a phone call from the former NFL star about his famous Bronco car in June 1994.

Bob Kostas

Even behind bars, OJ Simpson told bizarre jokes about the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and his former colleague Ron Goldman, according to Bob Costas.

Speaking of the death of a former NFL legend TODAY program On April 12, Costas said he visited Simpson in prison in November 1994, before his murder trial, along with attorney Robert Kardashian and Simpson’s longtime friend Al Cowlings. Simpson was accused of murdering his ex-wife Brown Simpson and the waiter Goldman.

The legendary broadcaster, who once worked with Simpson at NBC Sports, said that when he and Simpson placed their hands on the glass partition separating them, Simpson noticed that Costas had a cut on his hand.

Costas recalls that this led to an uncomfortable moment.

“When I put my hand up there and he saw the bandage and a little drop of blood, he said, ‘Wait a minute, wait a minute.’ You did it,” he continued TODAY.

Vinnie Zuffante/Getty

OJ Simpson and Nicole Brown Simpson

Related: Justice for Nicole Brown Simpson – Read PEOPLE’s February 8, 2016 cover story

Costas said Simpson denied that version of the story. Costas, however, said he will always remember it as very strange.

“I thought at that moment that it was an attempt to lighten the mood in an awkward situation, if possible,” he said on the show. “I didn’t read anything else into it, but it was a little weird.”

Related: OJ Simpson has died of cancer at age 76, family announces

In 1995, Simpson was acquitted of the murders of Goldman and Brown Simpson, which caused much controversy.

On April 11, 2024, the Simpson family announced on X (formerly Twitter)), that the Hall of Fame football player, legendary broadcaster and convicted felon died at the age of 76 on April 10 following a cancer diagnosis.

During the interview on TODAYCostas also said he asked Simpson why he called him during the infamous Bronco chase.

Related: The Story of OJ Simpson’s Controversial Book, If I did itand why it was canceled and later released

“I asked OJ, ‘What made you think at that moment that you wanted to talk to me?’ And he said, ‘The media defamed me’ – not so much because of the allegations, which were fresh at the time, because of the criminal allegations, but because they were defaming his general character and the life he led,” Costas recalled. .

Lee Celano/WireImage

Family photo of Ronald Goldman. 51b87c6af7d092ba8 “/>Lee Celano/WireImage

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Lee Celano/WireImage

Ronald Goldman’s family photo.

“And somehow he thought that someone who was his friend and also his colleague could, in effect, act as a character witness,” Costas added. “And what I didn’t bother to tell him, because it was irrelevant, is that if he reached out to me and agreed to come on the air, I would have to ask him some very specific questions.”

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