‘Raging’ O.J. Simpson Called NBC Every Sunday

O.J. Simpson apparently had a weekly Sunday ritual during the height of his legal scandal — calling NBC to complain about the latest brutal jokes aimed at him on Saturday Night Live.

Former SNL writer Jim Downey claims the late NFL star repeatedly contacted powerful NBC executive Don Ohlmeyer whenever Weekend Update anchor Norm Macdonald mocked Simpson or openly suggested he was responsible for the 1994 killings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman.

Simpson was acquitted of murder charges in 1995, but Macdonald refused to back down, continuing to hammer him with some of the sharpest and most controversial jokes ever delivered on the long-running comedy show.

According to Downey, Simpson would call Ohlmeyer almost every Sunday morning after Weekend Update aired.

“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,’” Downey recalled during a panel at the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of the documentary Playing POTUS.

Downey said Simpson’s complaints were then passed along to SNL creator Lorne Michaels, placing growing pressure on the show’s leadership.

Simpson and his representatives reportedly never tried to confront Downey directly.

“They felt like that was a waste of their time,” Downey said, claiming they instead put “unrelenting pressure” on Michaels to rein in the jokes.

Despite the mounting complaints, Downey said Michaels continued to support both him and Macdonald.

The writer recalled Michaels privately asking why the pair seemed so convinced Simpson was guilty.

“What makes you and Norm so certain that O.J. is guilty?” Michaels allegedly asked.

Downey said he responded bluntly: “Lorne, come f—ing on.”

Michaels then reportedly warned Downey that the relentless Simpson jokes might be hurting SNL with some Black viewers.

“He didn’t tell me not to do it,” Downey explained. “I think he just had to let me know that, ‘You have no idea what I have to go through.’”

Although Simpson was cleared in the criminal trial, a civil jury later found him liable for the wrongful deaths of Nicole and Goldman in 1997. The lawsuit had been filed by Goldman’s father, Fred Goldman.

Macdonald continued targeting Simpson on Weekend Update, frequently calling him a murderer and using the case as material for some of his darkest jokes.

But the controversy eventually fueled speculation that the comedian’s time at NBC had become untenable.

Both Macdonald and Downey were fired from SNL in 1998. Their departures were widely rumored to have been connected to their refusal to stop making Simpson jokes.

Ohlmeyer, who was reportedly close friends with Simpson, denied that the firings were motivated by personal loyalty. However, Downey later acknowledged that he believed the executive remained fiercely devoted to the former football star.

“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.”

Macdonald died in 2021 at age 61 following a private battle with acute leukemia.

Simpson died from prostate cancer in 2024 at age 76, nearly three decades after the murder trial that transformed him from a celebrated football icon into one of the most controversial figures in American history.