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Donald Trump & O.J. Simpson Have A History, Sort Of

by Kelly Tunney
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After serving almost nine years in federal prison in Nevada, O.J. Simpson will receive a parole hearing on Thursday. Simpson was convicted in 2008 in a Las Vegas robbery in which he claims he was attempting to recover stolen items. But long before that incident and the murders of his ex-wife and her friend in 1994, his fame as a football player catapulted him to star status in the news. Because of the football star's prominence in the '90s, you may be wondering if he knew another celebrity who made his name during that decade: does O.J. Simpson know President Donald Trump?

According to a report from the New York Daily News, they had some run-ins. Simpson and Trump were photographed together in October 1993 in New York. Simpson also attended Trump's wedding to second wife Marla Maples that same year. At the ceremony, Simpson said, "I think everybody in the country believes maybe their relationship can work, if this relationship can work."

But just because a celebrity attends another celebrity's wedding, doesn't mean that they are close friends—Hillary Clinton also attended one of Trump's weddings, after all. Since his wedding, Trump has changed his tune a bit about Simpson when speaking about him in the press.

It was six months after the wedding that Simpson was arrested for murder charges against his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman, of which he was acquitted.

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In 2008, 12 years after Simpson's famous acquittal, Trump was on The Howard Stern Show, where he talked about who he would like to bring on the next season of The Celebrity Apprentice. Trump said that he wanted Simpson on The Celebrity Apprenticefor the ratings.

Trump told Stern, "Now, I know this: If I put O.J. on—huge ratings. Oh, forget it, 35 million people." NBC, however, reportedly turned down the idea.

Although he was willing to cast Simpson on his show, Trump also told Stern in the same interview that he cut ties with Simpson. According to Trump, the two used to hang out and play golf together. When Stern asked Trump if Simpson had called him about the opportunity, he said he couldn't go into details. However, he did tell Stern he hadn't spoken to Simpson in years because, "I don't like people that kill their wives."

And it's not the only time Trump has said Simpson is guilty of his ex-wife's murder. In 2014, Trump tweeted, "I can't believe the judge in the Oscar Pistorious case has found him not guilty of murder. No one has been more guilty since O.J.!"

Given their history, it doesn't seem likely that he and the president will be on speaking terms if Simpson is granted parole.