Former NFL star O.J. Simpson has died aged 76 after a battle with cancer, his family have announced in a statement released on social media on Thursday

O.J. Simpson was known for his close relationship with Kim Kardashian’s late father Robert in the early 1990s.

The late NFL star, whose death was announced today aged 76, would often visit the famous family’s home during his murder trial. Robert, who passed away himself in 2003, acted as an adviser to Simpson’s legal team and was close with O.J.

One truly unbelievable moment was dramatized in The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story, but it actually turned out to be true. Here the Mirror takes a look at the truly bizarre time O.J. threatened to take his own life in teenage Kim’s bedroom.

Robert worked as an advisor on O.J’s legal team ( Image: AFP via Getty Images)
She was around 13 at the time, and luckily wasn’t at home. But Kim Kardashian was staying with her father when O.J was accused of the murders of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. Before his infamous Bronco car chase, Robert discovered O.J. in Kim’s bedroom, recording “a suicide tape” while clutching onto photographs of Nicole and their children Justin and Sydney.

In an unearthed interview, father-of-four Robert explained: “Then O.J. said, ‘I’m going to kill myself in this room,’ and I said, ‘You can’t. This is my daughter’s bedroom’.” He told O.J. at the time, “My little girl Kim sleeps here. I can’t have my little girl in this bedroom, and every time I come in here, I’m going to see your body lying in this. You can’t do that.”

O.J’s death was announced today, a statement posted on his social media accounts read: “On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer. He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren. During this time of transition, his family asks that you please respect their wishes for privacy and grace.”

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O.J. threatened to kill himself in Kim’s bedroom ( Image: WireImage)

Kim was a teenager at the time and wasn’t at home ( Image: Getty Images)
Simpson had reportedly been battling prostate cancer. Back in February, he shut down reports he was in a hospice, declaring on social media: “Hey X world, hospice? Hospice? You talking about hospice? No, I’m not in any hospice. I don’t know who put that out there. I guess it’s like Donald [Trump] says, ‘You can’t trust the media.’

“In any event, I’m hosting a tonne of friends for the Super Bowl here in Las Vegas. All is well, you know. So take care, have a good Super Bowl weekend.” In 1994, he was accused of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman after they were found stabbed to death outside her Los Angeles home.

Simpson pleaded not guilty and after a high-profile trial that lasted nearly a year, he was acquitted by a jury. A civil lawsuit from the victims’ families found him responsible for wrongful death and battery, ordering him to pay $33.5 million in damages.

In 2007, he was convicted after leading five men into an armed robbery in Las Vegas. He was released in 2017 on parole after being originally sentenced to 33 years in prison.