OJ Simpson is said to have paid $50,000-a-day for his ‘Dream Team’ defence squad.
Segments of the 2016 ESPN documentary ‘O.J.: Made in America’ have re-emerged since his death on Wednesday (10.04.24) aged 76 from cancer was revealed by his family on Thursday (11.04.24) that details how the former NFL star paid for his high-flying lawyers as he stood trial in 1994 for the double murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown, 35, and her 25-year-old friend Ron Goldman.
In part four of the show, it’s revealed Simpson generated a fortune while in prison during the 11-month trial, which ended in him being acquitted – before a civil trial found him liable for the murders.
In a recording that plays during the section of the documentary that is being shared in the wake of Simpson’s death, an interviewer is heard asking the athlete-turned-actor if he ever thought what would happen under the same circumstances if he was just a middle-class defendant instead of a rich celebrity.
Simpson admitted: “I would have no chance.”
The documentary then reveals Simpson was allowed to keep generating money-spinning memorabilia during his trial, which allowed him to afford his ‘Dream Team’ of lawyers – Robert Shapiro, Robert Kardashian, Alan Dershowitz and Johnnie Cochran – which the documentary said cost him an astounding $50,000 a day.
Simpson’s former agent Mike Gilbert said in the film by the third day Simpson was in prison, he got his representatives to start getting together a marketing and merchandising plan to generate cash for his court defense.
Memorabilia dealer Bruce Fromong added in the documentary Simpson would be given numbers to sign his autograph to in his jail cell.
They would then be put on jerseys to be sold at memorabilia collector events.
Simpson also autographed footballs brought to him in jail – along with photos.
The sports memorabilia market went wild for Simpson items and autographs while his 11-month televised court case went on, with Simpson said to sign 2,500 cards for fans in a single sitting.
Simpson would also date them to show they were autographed while he was behind bars as that drove up their price, with Bruce adding Simpson earned $3 million in prison on autographs alone.
