LA Times Called Out For 'Incorrectly' Referring to OJ Simpson as Trump in Obituary
The Los Angeles Times drew scrutiny for accidentally publishing an obituary that referred to O.J. Simpson as "Trump."
April 12 2024, Published 1:30 p.m. ET
As the shocking death of OJ Simpson made headlines on Thursday, a major newspaper became the subject of scrutiny for confusing the embattled former athlete with ex-president Donald Trump, RadarOnline.com has learned.
In a mistake that has since been corrected, The Los Angeles Times referred to Simpson as Trump while narrating the moments the acquitted double murder defendant was released from a Nevada prison after he was convicted of armed robbery and kidnapping.
"Long before the city woke up on a fall morning in 2017, Trump walked out of Lovelock Correctional Center a free man for the first time in nine years," the newspaper wrote in its obituary for Simpson on Thursday. "He didn’t go far, moving into a 5,000-square-foot home in Las Vegas with a Bentley in the driveway."
The Los Angeles Times quickly fixed the error, but it had already gone viral.
The Times quickly jumped to fix the error, but the damage had already been done as readers pointed out the blunder.
"Someone needs to go back and proofread the obit," one commenter wrote on the outlet's Instagram post announcing Simpson's death that linked to the obituary. "At the end you call him Trump."
The typo has gone viral as it lives on in screen shots, like one shared by political commentator Zack Stanton on X that has been viewed more than 600,000 times.
A disclaimer was tacked onto the article hours after it was published: "An earlier version of this obituary used the wrong name when describing Simpson leaving Lovelock Correctional Center. The error has been corrected."
Trump has not spoken out about the gaffe.
While it seemed to simply be a copyediting oversight, the mistake raised eyebrows coming from a newspaper that has taken a left-leaning stance, especially in its coverage of Trump.
O.J. Simpson served nine years behind bars in Nevada for armed robbery and kidnapping, and was released in 2017.
In an op-ed published in December, for example, the Times Editorial Board argued against the idea of granting the former president immunity from prosecution, especially in regard to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
"Former presidents don’t have a ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ card," the headline read.
The Times also had a central role in covering Simpson's salacious double murder trial in Los Angeles in 1995, when he was charged with stabbing his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman.
A jury found Simpson not guilty of the criminal charges, but a civil suit that soon followed held him liable for the wrongful deaths of Nicole and Ron. He was ordered to pay both victims' families $33.5 million in damages, but only ever paid a fraction of the judgment.
An attorney for Ron's family announced Thursday that Simpson's death would not stop the family from pursuing the debt, and they planned to look into whether the ex-NFL star left behind any assets or funds they can cash in on.
In 2008, Simpson was convicted of armed robbery and kidnapping after stealing sports memorabilia that he claimed was his own from a Las Vegas hotel and casino. He served nine years behind bars in Nevada before his release in 2017.
Trump has not spoken out about Thursday's LA Times gaffe.
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Steeped in scandal, Simpson kept a low profile living in Las Vegas, until he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in February. His family announced in a post on X Thursday morning that he had died at the age of 76.
RadarOnline.com has also revealed that sources close to the Simpson family said those who visited the former footballer during his final days had to sign an NDA. One insider said this included 30 to 50 people, including his four children.
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