When Howard Met OJ

OJ Simpson has died. 

If you're in my age-range then you remember his trial. Before Monica Lewinsky, before 9/11, before the Iraq War, before the Financial Meltdown, before Trump, before COVID, before any number of disasters and horrors, the late-1990s OJ Simpson case seemed like the most important thing going on in the country. 

I distinctly remember when, one night before I had a final high school exam, I saw a news report that OJ was being questioned in his ex-wife's murder. I barely knew who OJ was except that he was in the Naked Gun movies, was a sportscaster, and endorsed a lot of products on TV. Old as I am, I wasn't old enough to remember his 1970s glory days as a football star -- not that I would have cared then or now.

Anyway, I remember the night after I finished 11th grade, coming home at 8 in the morning from a party, going to sleep, and waking up to news that he was wanted in this murder. It sounded crazy but I didn't really pay that much attention to it. (We weren't living a world of constant screens or news or social media then). Later that night, sacked out on the couch, watching an episode of a dumb forgotten show called Burke's Law, the news broke in to cover the now infamous, historic Ford Bronco chase. I spent the rest of the night watching it, a truly surreal thing, and I was just glad that it didn't end in violence or a shootout. 

In many ways, the OJ chase and case was the first surreal episode of the last surreal 30 years.

Now think back to March of 1993, if you can (if weren't old enough, or alive, you're excused). Bill Clinton has just become president. The country is at peace. 

And radio host Howard Stern is the epitome of the "shock jock", the most outrageous mouth in America, and becoming a huge star.

Late during one show on a March day of 1993, OJ Simpson briefly dropped by the show. OJ was not a scheduled guest but he was in Howard's radio station because OJ was on the board of Howard's radio company and was there for a meeting.

Howard and his producer Baba Booey coaxed OJ to come on the air. They had a hilarious, lively, and racy conversation where Howard told OJ how smartly he had handled his career, how great he was in the Naked Gun movies, how good he looked for his age, and, naturally, about all the "hot broads" OJ was "nailin'."

"I've never been with that caliber of woman" Howard tells OJ about OJ's then model girlfriend -- a comment I'm sure Howard's then wife greatly appreciated. 

Some of this stuff is extremely creepy to listen to in retrospect: OJ talks about his recent divorce from his wife Nicole but declares that they have a "great realtionship." And after Howard talks about how awesome OJ and his life is, OJ simply says, "I'm having a good life."

Fifteen months later, that "good life" -- and American culture -- would change.

You can listen here to Howard's crazy interview with OJ followed by 9 hours of talk about the man, the murder, and the case that riveted the world. It's fascinating to hear how Howard, like America, went from lionizing OJ, to being incredulous at the thought he might be involved in this double homicide, to being 100% convinced of his guilt.  

Beyond his life, OJ's life feels like the end of some of kind of weird era, a kind of closure. The whole thing was and remains a tragedy. But, of course, Howard found some way to make it hilarious -- his conclusion, "White broads are nuthin' but trouble, damn my penis."