O.J. Simpson’s kids, explained

Crime involving family members is exceptionally tragic because it doesn’t just affect the people directly involved, it takes a toll on all family members, and often children are just swept up in it with no choice in the matter.

That’s exactly what happened to O.J. Simpson‘s kids Justin and Sydney after he was acquitted of the murder of his wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman.

Simpson died from cancer in April, and it made orphans Justin and Sydney Simpson, who were only 5 and 8 when their mother was murdered. The children are both in their 30s now, and Brown’s sisters Denise, Dominique and Tanya Brown recently appeared on the Today show and provided some updates on the kids.

“I was so sad for the children,” Tanya Brown said about Simpson’s demise. “I was so sad for them.” Denise Brown said she was “happy” that OJ died but felt bad for Justin and Sydney.

“He was just always there, his presence, they were always talking about him in the media, things were always going on, but then it was that sadness for the kids because now they don’t have a mom or a dad,” Denise Brown said. “So yeah, it was hard. It was tough.”

Dominique Brown said she stepped in to help with the kids after Nicole Brown was killed. Now the kids have families of their own.

“We played, we went and ate together, we went to the beach together,” Dominique Brown said. “And now I’m involved with them and their families and their children.” As to whether she believes OJ murdered her sister, she said she doesn’t answer that “because of the children.”

Simpson has a total of five kids; two with Nicole Brown and three from a previous marriage. They are: Arnelle Simpson, 55, Jason Simpson, 54, Aaren Simpson (deceased), Sydney Brooke Simpson, 38, and Justin Ryan Simpson, 35.

Sydney and Justin have each led mostly private lives, with both graduating from college and pursuing a career in real estate. Arnelle Simpson is O.J.’s oldest daughter. She testified at her father’s parole hearing in 2017 and helped him secure his 2021 release. She called her father her “rock” and “best friend.”

Jason Simpson is a chef and a culinary director who has also wisely chosen to stay out of the spotlight. In 2021, he went on a podcast called The Food That Binds and shed a little light on where he was at mentally with the whole thing:

“There was a time when my dad was famous, and there was a time when he was infamous,” he said. “And I know that when he was famous, I didn’t want him around then because I didn’t want him to take away from something I took very serious, which was cooking.”

O.J.’s daughter Aaren tragically drowned as a toddler in 1979.