EXCLUSIVE: O.J. Simpson's Sunday Morning Rants Revealed — Blood-Soaked Star Called NBC Every Week to Moan About Murder Jokes
O.J. Simpson's Sunday morning rants revealed as the star complained about murder jokes on NBC weekly.
July 5 2026, Published 7:00 a.m. ET
Thin-skinned O.J. Simpson couldn't take a joke, and the late football legend griped to NBC whenever Saturday Night Live poked fun at him during the '90s and even after his notorious acquittal for the 1994 double murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her pal Ron Goldman, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
That's the claim of Jim Downey, a former scribe on the comedy sketch show during funnyman Norm Macdonald's tenure as SNL's snarky Weekend Update anchor.
O.J. Complained Behind The Scenes
O.J. Simpson repeatedly complained to NBC's Don Ohlmeyer over jokes on 'Saturday Night Live.'
Macdonald, who died in 2021 at age 61 from complications of acute leukemia, frequently took aim at O.J. and often called him a murderer during the newsy segment.
"O.J. used to call up Don Ohlmeyer, who was the head of programming at the network, every Sunday after Update, to do the, 'What the hell, Don? I thought you ran this network,'" recalled Downey during a panel for the world premiere of the documentary Playing POTUS at the Tribeca Film Festival. And that would get communicated back to [SNL creator] Lorne [Michaels]."
Downey said the retired jock – who was found liable for the killings of Nicole and Goldman in 1997 in a wrongful death civil suit filed by Ron's father, Fred Goldman – and his team never attempted to speak directly with him because "they felt like that was a waste of their time," and instead put "unrelenting pressure" on Michaels.
Lorne Michaels Backed Norm's Jokes
Jim Downey said Lorne Michaels stood by Norm Macdonald despite O.J. Simpson's complaints.
But the writer credited Michaels with supporting him and Norm.
"I remember him taking me aside, because he was clearly hearing it," Downey shared. "He said, 'What makes you and Norm so certain that O.J. is guilty?' And I just went, 'Lorne, come f**king on.' And he said, 'OK. I think it might be hurting us with our African American audience.' He didn't tell me not to do it. I think he just had to let me know that, 'You have no idea what I have to go through.'"
Writers Fired Amid O.J. Controversy
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Like Jim Downey's, Norm Macdonald's 1998 'Saturday Night Live' exits were rumored to be tied to their O.J. Simpson jokes.
Eventually, both Macdonald and Downey were fired from SNL in 1998.
Their axing was rumored to be related to their refusal to drop the O.J. jokes, as NBC exec Ohlmeyer was close friends with the disgraced gridiron great, who succumbed to prostate cancer in 2024 at age 76.
"I can't honestly say that a part of me doesn't respect Don for his loyalty," Downey previously said. "He stuck with O.J. through it all."
