Caitlyn Jenner is not sorry to see O.J. Simpson go.
On Wednesday, April 10, O.J. Simpson died after a battle with cancer.
Many are taking to social media to more or less celebrate. Others argue that there’s nothing to celebrate because he died surrounded by children and grandchildren instead of in prison.
Caitlyn Jenner actually knew the man back when he had ties to the Kardashians. And she is not mincing words about his passing.
What did Caitlyn Jenner say about O.J. Simpson dying?
On Thursday, April 11, the world learned that O.J. Simpson had died the previous day following his cancer battle.
He died surrounded by his children and grandchildren, according to his family. This is a stark contrast from how ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend, Ron Goldman, died in 1994.
In response, Caitlyn Jenner had just two words to share on Twitter: “Good Riddance.”
In case there was any doubt as to the subject matter, Caitlyn included a hashtag: “#OJSimpson.”
The clear meaning of her tweet is that the world is a better place after O.J. Simpson’s passing than it was while he was alive. Thus, being rid of him is a net positive for humanity.
Millions of people share this sentiment. But the vast majority of them only know of O.J. through his infamous trial or perhaps his sports career before that. Caitlyn actually knew the man.
Caitlyn Jenner knew O.J. Simpson through her ex-wife, Kris Jenner
The late Robert Kardashian was friends with O.J. Simpson because the two of them attended college together.
When Robert married Kris, O.J. was their best man. When authorities arrested O.J. for the murder of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman, Robert was famously part of his defense team.
Nicole was friend with Kris. While it seems that Robert truly believed that O.J. was innocent of the crime, not everyone in their social circle felt the same way.
Yes, Caitlyn met O.J. through her relationship with Kris Jenner. The two married in 1991 — more than three years before Nicole’s gruesome murder.
This means that Cait was married to Kris throughout the trial, and for many years of Kris grieving her friend.
In that context, it is no surprise that Caitlyn is happy that O.J. is gone. It’s likely that the only people who don’t feel the same way believe that O.J. is innocent (as the jury found), believe that he’s guilty but for some twisted reason don’t care, or have some personal belief that prevents them from celebrating this news.
Should Caitlyn Jenner be speaking about this?
Caitlyn Jenner is not, generally speaking, a particularly relatable person.
She is so profoundly wealthy that she is out of touch with most people. She is 74 years old, well above the median age. And she has worked tirelessly to alienate the transgender community while courting the approval of political circles that despise her simply for existing.
But this tweet about O.J. Simpson’s demise is, many on social media are observing, relatable. But is she the best messenger?
Numerous social media users flocked to Caitlyn’s replies to scold her. Very few took issue with the sentiment towards O.J. … but many more took issue with Cait herself.
In February of 2015, Caitlyn Jenner was part of a Pacific Coast Highway collision in Malibu. The incident involved multiple vehicles — and one fatality.
Actor and animal rights activist Kim Howe died. Though some details of the tragedy remain unclear, separate lawsuits against Cait from Howe’s stepchildren and from others in the collision resulted in settlements. The financial amounts of the settlements remain unknown to the public.
Is this a fair comparison?
On the one hand, Caitlyn Jenner’s vehicular incident from 2015 does not make her the best person to send this message. Also, her history of saying abhorrent things that harm the trans community makes her one of the worst people to comment on anything.
At the same time, we have to acknowledge that no matter Cait’s role in the 2015 vehicular tragedy, it is not comparable to O.J.’s allegations. A fatal collision is a tragedy; domestic abuse is an evil. The brutal murder of a woman and her friend is an evil.
Cait really shouldn’t be talking. But perhaps this is a case of a stopped clock being right twice per day.