Tragic Details About Nicole Brown Simpson
The following article contains references to domestic violence.
O.J. Simpson was one of the most infamous public figures in the world in the decades that led up to his death at the age of 76 after a cancer diagnosis in 2024. While the former sports star turned actor and convicted felon once had a glittering career, it all came crashing down around him when his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, was found gruesomely murdered on the steps of her Brentwood home in Los Angeles in 1994. Simpson's antics over the time that followed put the spotlight on him, often making Brown Simpson a footnote in her own story.
The public knew the 35-year-old beauty as the ex-wife of a much-loved athlete, the mother of his kids, and not much else. Her identity was so strongly tied to Simpson that when her murder made the news, the media flocked to gain any information they could about her ... only to find that even her closest friends were kept at arm's length. Brown Simpson was — and still is — largely an enigma, but the tragic details of her life remain just as fascinating now as they were three decades ago.
Born to a military father, Nicole's early life was unsettled, but she had hoped for a bright future. Little did she know as an 18-year-old hopeful stepping out in Hollywood that her life would be painfully short — and full to the brim with difficulty. Let's take a look at the tragic life of Nicole Brown Simpson.
Nicole Brown Simpson had an unsettled childhood – but she put on a brave face
When Nicole Brown Simpson first entered the public consciousness, she seemed to be living the quintessential American dream. She was known for her long blond hair and high cheekbones and had one of the most famous athletes in America, O.J. Simpson, under her spell. Though Nicole's father was American, her mother was German. The pair met when Lou Brown was serving in the Air Force, and Nicole was born in her mother's homeland, along with her sister, Denise. When the girls were still very young, the family moved back to the United States where they hopped around before they settled in Garden Grove, California, where Nicole attended Rancho Alamitos High School.
This move wasn't permanent, and the family picked up again, moving to a swanky gated community in Orange County. This meant a new high school for Nicole, which can be daunting for many teenagers who move, but she seemed to handle it well. One of her former teachers, Bill Prestridge, told the Los Angeles Times that she was "bubbly, always happy and smiling." It's true that Nicole made the best of an unsettled adolescence, even scooping the title of homecoming princess in 1976. However, Prestridge also noted that his former student always appeared to be more grown-up than her peers.
"You almost got the idea that she was ready to get out of high school and go on to bigger and better things," he explained.
She met O.J. Simpson when she was just 18
When Nicole Brown Simpson first laid eyes on O.J. Simpson, she was just 18 years old. At the time, she worked as a waitress at The Daisy, a popular Beverly Hills nightclub. While others were starstruck by Simpson, she had absolutely no idea who he was. The pro athlete was 30 years old and a married man who had just welcomed a daughter, Aaren, with his wife of over a decade, Marguerite. Despite his relationship status at the time, it didn't take long for Nicole to fall head over heels in love with him.
We know the most tragic details about O.J. Simpson and Nicole Brown's relationship now, but back then, Nicole must have felt like the world was at her feet. Indeed, a former teacher of hers told the Los Angeles Times that Nicole brought her new boyfriend back to her high school so he could sign autographs: "You know teenagers. They like someone older and more sophisticated, and she certainly did. He was everybody's idol, of course, then."
First loves tend to hit hard, but Nicole had it bad. She was caught up in the thrill of being with a celebrity and enjoying the perks that came along with it, with no way to predict how testing their relationship would become as the years passed. Within a couple of months, Nicole had moved in with her new love.
After moving in with O.J., she dropped out of college at his request
At the time Nicole Brown Simpson crossed paths with O.J. Simpson, she wasn't just a waitress but also a college student enrolled in community college at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo. According to the Los Angeles Times, Nicole took an interest in photography and modeling, but her newfound relationship derailed her plans and she dropped out of school — allegedly at Simpson's request. Nicole later appeared to lament this situation when she stated in an affidavit during their later divorce:
"I only attended junior college for a very short time, because (Simpson) wanted me to be available to travel with him whenever his career required him to go to a new location, even if it was for a short period of time. I have no other college education, and I hold no degrees." Decision-making as a teenager in a relationship with such a power imbalance is never going to turn out well, but at the time, Nicole didn't realize that she was setting the stage for future problems further down the line.
It wouldn't be until much later, after her murder, that the public would discover just how much control Simpson had over her from the very start of their ill-fated relationship.
Her stepdaughter, Aaren, drowned in 1979
As we've previously touched upon, Nicole Brown Simpson didn't strike up a relationship with a young man her age who was footloose and fancy-free. O.J. Simpson's relationship with his first wife Marguerite Whitley lasted over 10 years. They shared three children together, Arnelle, Jason, and Aaren. Simpson met Nicole the same year Aaren was born and quickly moved in with her, finally divorcing Whitley before Aaren's first birthday. This would have been a tumultuous start to any relationship, let alone for someone as young as Nicole was at the time — but it was only going to get worse.
Aaren was just under 2 years old in 1979 when she drowned in the family swimming pool. Despite getting rushed to intensive care, Aaren didn't make it. While there isn't any information out there about how Nicole, a young woman barely out of her teens, handled the situation, we do know that Simpson was beside himself.
A clerical worker at the hospital told People in 1994 that Simpson ran down the corridor screaming accusations of murder at his ex-wife: "I asked what had happened, and they said that O.J. was upset and had gone after his wife and had to be restrained." It's not a stretch to assume that this heartbreaking chain of events deeply impacted Nicole.
Nicole Brown Simpson's career was limited because of her relationship
Arguably, there was no financial need for Nicole Brown Simpson to work at all during her relationship with O.J. Simpson. By the time they got married in 1985, Simpson wasn't just a former pro athlete with millions in the bank, but an in-demand celebrity who had lucrative contracts with the likes of the Hertz rental car company — contracts that brought in around a million dollars a year, according to the Los Angeles Times. However, just because Nicole didn't need to work didn't mean that she didn't have career aspirations and dreams of her own.
When Nicole decided to dip her toe into the interior design world and try to build a business for herself, she found that she was only able to have clients who were either her husband or his friends. In divorce court documents, she explained that her career was incredibly limited, and after their split, her business was squashed entirely (via the Los Angeles Times): "I worked on my own as an interior decorator, mostly for respondent and his friends. I no longer have that opportunity."
It appears that all avenues to independence were gradually cut off to Nicole before she had a chance to fully explore them, including her education and her business prospects. Her life may have been luxuriously expensive — but at what cost?
Her marriage was incredibly volatile
According to friends of the couple, they initially appeared to have an idyllic life together, especially after Nicole Brown Simpson gave birth to O.J. Simpson's kids, Sydney and Brooke. The couple threw lavish parties at Easter for their family and friends. As one neighbor told the Los Angeles Times, "When they had parties at Rockingham, we had the best times. We would play games — scavenger hunt, truth or consequences." But by other accounts, it was just a facade that hid an unsettling truth.
Another friend, actress Cathy Lee Crosby, told the publication after Nicole's murder, "It was a very passionate, a very volatile, a very obsessive relationship. On both sides." In the same report, an unnamed source described the relationship as incredibly happy at some times but incredibly unsettled at others. It wasn't unusual for Nicole to leave the home, or for Simpson to throw her out, only for them to reconcile a short time later. Their arguments were so out of control that Nicole called 911 on several different occasions, and one incident in 1989 resulted in law enforcement turning up on New Year's Eve. They found Nicole with multiple injuries to her face as she screamed, "He's going to kill me!" according to The New York Times.
E! News further elaborated on the infamous incident, reporting that Nicole told police that night, "You never do anything. You come out. You've been here eight times. And you never do anything about him."
If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.
Nicole Brown Simpson's friends said she kept her woes to herself
The 1989 incident became public knowledge as O.J. Simpson wound up in court on misdemeanor domestic abuse charges. However, Nicole Brown Simpson didn't let even her closest friends in on her marital woes. A friend of Nicole's told the Los Angeles Times after her death that despite her long friendship with Nicole, Nicole remained guarded: "The truth is, no one really knew her during her marriage. She was never free to be herself or have friends. She wasn't available for that kind of intimacy."
The friend went on to say that Nicole often canceled plans at the last minute, but Simpson would tell them it was because of menstrual cramps that left her bedbound for days. It wasn't until after the murder that the friend began to wonder if that was the truth, or simply a sinister cover-up. To this day, whether Nicole was a victim of domestic violence or caught up in a situation similar to the Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard case is still a matter of debate for some.
In fact, Nicole's sister Denise Brown gave an interview in which she stressed Nicole wasn't a battered woman (via The New York Times): "If she was beaten up, she wouldn't have stayed with him. ... Everybody knows about 1989. Does anybody know about any other time?" Denise's statement seems to contradict Nicole herself when she said she had called law enforcement for help eight times.
If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.
There were rumors O.J cheated on her with her friend Kris Jenner
Fans of "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" may remember a rumor about Khloé Kardashian's paternity that has circulated for years, which is that her real father is none other than O.J. Simpson. But where did this theory start? Is this the real reason Kim Kardashian stays silent about the trial that made her family famous? According to Grazia, Simpson bragged about his romantic liaison with Kardashian matriarch Kris Jenner to his former manager, Norman Pardo, who recounted the claims in a documentary titled "Who Killed Nicole?"
Pardo said that Simpson and Nicole Brown Simpson were vacationing with Jenner and her then-husband Robert Kardashian when Brown Simpson and Kardashian went to bed, leaving their respective spouses alone in the hot tub together. Pardo claims that Simpson told him that he stood up and pulled his shorts down and had sex with Jenner that was so wild she asked to go to the hospital afterward. Simpson's responded by telling her to ask her husband.
Whether Nicole knew about the affair rumors at the time of this alleged incident remains unclear, but Jenner spoke about it during a 2019 episode of her show, stating (via People): "I just think it's really unfair to Nicole's family, my family, for these stupid rumors to be flying around out there." However, given Caitlyn Jenner only had two words to say about O.J. Simpson's death, some fans aren't convinced by Kris' denial.
She struggled to adjust to post-divorce life
For Nicole Brown Simpson, divorcing O.J. Simpson must have been a big step. She had relied on him financially since her teen years, having never gained an education or a viable career for herself. When they did split up, friends hoped she would carve out a life as an independent woman, and she began to do just that. A friend of hers, Cora Fischman, told the Los Angeles Times that Nicole "started all over again." She bought a brand new home for herself and her kids with the lump sum she gained in the divorce and focused on being the best mom she could be.
She maintained an active social life while also being there for her kids, and it seemed like the start of something new. But she couldn't shake her ties to Simpson, and after trying to move on and seeing a counselor, she reached out to her ex-husband to reconcile. Indeed, the pair did get back together, but old habits die hard. In the fall of 1993, Nicole called 911 to say Simpson had broken in through the back door and she was scared he was going to beat her.
The pattern continued for quite sometime after their divorce, and neither of them seemed capable of letting the other one go for good, trapped in the toxic cycle that would come to define Nicole's life.
There was never any justice for her tragic and untimely demise
Nicole Brown Simpson never got a chance to live out the rest of her life, regardless of whether it would have been with O.J. Simpson or not. In June 1994, she was found stabbed to death alongside her friend Ronald Goldman in the entryway of her condo. Her children were asleep in the apartment at the time and were thankfully unharmed. What unfolded in the next few months went down in history as one of the most highly publicized trials of all time. Simpson was charged with murder but acquitted thanks to the help of his friend and lawyer Robert Kardashian. However, he lost a civil lawsuit for wrongful death and was ordered to pay $33.5 million to Nicole and Goldman's families (incidentally, the Goldman settlement could still impact Simpson's heirs).
Whether Simpson committed the crime remains a polarizing question. What we do know for certain is that Nicole and Goldman's lives were cut short at the hands of someone who wasn't brought to justice. Nicole spent her adult years trying to navigate a relationship that was seldom on steady ground, only to find a freedom that was snatched away before she could embrace it.
As for Nicole's family, her sister Denise remains convinced Simpson is to blame, telling "Good Morning America" (via ABC News) in 2004, "Nicole would be here today if it wasn't for him. Ronald Goldman would be here today if it wouldn't have been for him."