Getty O.J. Simpson
As the world tries its best to process the best course of action against the novel coronavirus, many people believed that O.J. Simpson decided to tweet out an extremely ill-timed joke about COVID-19 and his now-infamous White Bronco car chase on June 17, 1994, however, the tweet was from a fake account.
While there’s always room to find humor in life’s most horrible situations, joking about the widespread pandemic and the day Simpson jumped into his car and sped down the Los Angeles freeway to flee police wanting to arrest him for murder, seemed incredibly tone-deaf. The fake Simpson account (@The_OJSimpson32) that tweeted out the meme has 52.6K followers, which is likely why many users online and even some news outlets assumed the “joke” was from the former NFL star.
However, the real O.J. Simpson’s Twitter account (TheRealOJ32) has nearly 1 million followers, and the 72-year-old did not joke about the coronavirus using a screenshot from what became one of the most-watched moments in TV history, in which he sped down the interstate at 60 miles per hour for two hours to evade being taken into custody. Although, the image below was retweeted over 50,000 times in less than 24 hours.
The fake O.J. Simpson joke received hundreds of responses from users online who didn’t realize that tweet was from a fake. Those comments were obviously not kind. Even though the real-life Simpson was acquitted on both counts of murder on October 3, 1995, what was dubbed the “trial of the century” remains highly controversial for much of the public.
What’s likely causing much of the confusion, the real O.J. Simpson is not verified on Twitter, which makes it hard to differentiate from his account from another unverified Twitter account. The very first response to Simpson’s joke was full of disdain. The person tweeted, “Hahahahaha.. I would make a joke about you killing 2 people but that wouldn’t be a joke.”
The Real O.J. Simpson Made A Different Joke About Coronavirus Protection On Twitter
Never Too Careful
While “The Juice” did have the wherewithal to abstain from joking about coronavirus and being charged with double murder, Simpson shared a video online where he’s disinfecting his backyard. And even this tweet received backlash because users online found it hard to ignore that he’s wearing gloves in the video.
The first tweet in response to Simpson’s video read, “I’m glad you were able to pick up a pair of gloves. They fit quite nicely.” Another user online tweeted, “If only you were a little more careful back in the day.” One person simply tweeted, “Doing a killer job.”
Simpson’s video was viewed nearly 800,000 times within 24 hours. While wearing a mask, Simpson was videotaped by his daughter while he attempted to disinfect a bunch of cash. While spraying down the money he tries to explain himself without laughing.
He says, “Well, you know they’re canceling all these crowds at games and they tell people not to shake hands and to disinfect surfaces. well, this is what I wont at the golf course today. How do I know how many hands touched this money? I’m just saying!”
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