Lifetime’stwo-part docuseries,The Life & Murder of Nicole Brown Simpsonpremiered on June 23, 2025, nearly 30 years after the brutal murder ofNicole Brown Simpsonand her friendRon Goldman. Simpson and Goldman were found stabbed to death on July 11, 2025. Soon after the bodies were discovered, Simpson’s ex-husband and former NFL starO.J. Simpsonbecame the prime suspect, specifically due to his history of domestic violence. What followed was one of the most publicized trials in American history which ended in a controversial not-guilty verdict that came as a shock to many. Thetwo-part series provides an in-depth lookinto Nicole Brown Simpson’s life, her turbulent relationship with her ex-husband, and the events leading up to her death. The series featuresinterviews with Simpson’s children, her sisters, and some of her closest friends. Not just that, the tell-all docuseries also featuresnever-before-seen footage from home videosand entries from Nicole Brown Simpson’s diaries to shed light on her turbulent relationship with O.J. Simpson.
Brown and Simpson got married in February 1985. In their seven years of marriage, the couple had two children,Sydney Brooke SimpsonandJustin Ryan Simpson. The former coupledecided to part ways in February 1992, after which they continued to share custody of their children.The 2016 documentaryO.J.: Made in Americashed light on the domestic abuse that Nicole Brown Simpson had faced at the hands of her former husband. The documentaryfeatured 911 calls to the policethat featured OJ screaming in the background, as well as photographs of Nicole Simpson’s heavily bruised face. However, despite numerous instances of verbal and physical abuse witnessed by her close circle, the severity of her situation was often overshadowed by O.J. Simpson’s public persona. But with thebrand-new details that have emergedinThe Lifetime & Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson, it’s evident that the public didn’t take the domestic violence allegations against O.J. very seriously. And while Simpson, whopassed away on August 04, 2025,was acquitted of the murders,the series unapologetically implies that the former athlete and actor was far from innocent.
Nicole Brown Simpson’s Loved Ones Knew The Extent of O.J. Simpson’s Violent Behavior
Nicole Brown Simpson’s friends, includingfamed momagerKris Jenner, play a significant role in the docuseries. Their interviews offer a close look into Simpson’s life and her relationship with her former partner. Jenner, whose first husbandRobert Kardashianwas close with O.J., expressed that she continues to grieve Nicole Brown Simpson to this date. Her exact painful words expressing her sentiments in this regard were: “You never get over losing a friend that way, and I think I pack it down so far deep inside.” At the same time, the docuseries features Nicole Brown Simpson’s other friends recalling the dark side of her relationship with O.J. Simpson.
Her friendDavid LeBontalked about how Nicole and O.J. Simpson first met. He revealed the whole scenario in the following exact words: “he kept coming in and seeing her,” referring to The Daisy, a restaurant on Rodeo Drive where Nicole Brown Simpson was working at the age of just 18 when she met O.J. Simpson. “He had this obsession about her,” LeBon added. LeBon’s ex-wife,D’Anne Purcilly,recalled Nicole and O.J. Simpson’s first date, which ended with her returning home with a torn zipper on her jeans. And that was only the beginning of his aggressive behavior with her. When talking about the former NFL star’s dynamic with Nicole Brown Simpson, Purcilly remembers him being forceful with her on several occasions. Purcilly also revealed that Brown Simpson told her abouthow O.J. would threaten to chop her into pieces and bury herduring their arguments. Purcilly went on to claim that Simpson’s exact words to his then-wife once were:
“No one will know where you are, not even your children.”
The docuseries also featured courtroom footage which included DetectiveJohn Edwards’testimony about responding to a call at the Simpsons' residence on New Year’s Day 1989. He revealed that Nicole Brown Simpson had made the call andshe kept yelling “He’s going to kill me.”After the police responded to the incident at her home, Edwards noted that Nicole had a cut lip, a swollen forehead, and a handprint on the left side of her throat. Unfortunately, Brown Simpson eventually dropped the charges in the hopes of reconciling with her husband.
Spencer Marks, a retired LAPD officer, responded toanother incident at Nicole Brown Simpson’s home in 1993, after she and O.J. had separated. O.J. Simpson had allegedly found a photo of a man she had dated after their breakup. Officer Marks recalled Nicole Brown Simpson saying the following words on this incident:
“I know for a fact he’s going to murder me one day.”
Not just that — even audio from the call Nicole Brown Simpson made that day was played during O.J.’s murder trial. “He’s going to beat the shit out of me,” she can be heard saying, with O.J. angrily shouting in the background about her alleged infidelity in front of their children. These harrowing testimonies fromThe Life & Murder of Nicole Brown Simpsonpaint a clear picture of the ongoing, unimaginable abuse she was going through — and yet these events were continuously being slipped under the rug.
A First-Time Look at Nicole Simpson’s Diaries Reveals How She Truly Felt About Her Marriage
If all of this wasn’t enough, Nicole Brown Simpson’s own diaries paint an even darker picture of the kind of husband O.J. Simpson was to her.In a 1977 entry,from the first year of their relationship,she accused O.J. Simpson of infidelity after discovering an earring. The entry describes how he threw a fit, chased her, and violently threw her against walls, leaving bruises all over her body. Another entry from a family vacation in Hawaii during Christmas 1988 reveals that the former football star threw his then-wife against the walls and floor of their hotel room, bruising her arms and back. His violence was allegedly prompted by a gay man kissing his son Justin Ryan Simson and his wife. In a clip featuring O.J Simpson’s close friendMarcus Allen, it is revealed that the former NBA star was upset that Nicole Brown Simpson had let a “gay guy hold his baby.” Nicole had retorted back and talked about how her then-husband’s own father was gay and that threw O.J. completely over the edge.
Judie Manto, a longtime family friend of The Browns, also remembers visiting the couple at their Laguna Beach house. She described the house as “light and energetic.” However,Manto noted that the house would turn into a “black could” as soon as O.J. Simpson would come back home.Another entry from Nicole Brown Simpson’s diary corroborated this very story by Manto — Brown Simpson had written this:
“Beach house – Hit me, threw me up against the walls. Threw my camera, it broke the paneling – moldings off the doors to master bdrm and garage door.”
Denise Brown,Nicole’s sister, recounted witnessing the abuse firsthand at the couple’s Brentwood home. She described how O.J. screamed at Nicole before physically assaulting her by grabbing her by the throat, eventually throwing her out of the house, causing her to fall and injure her elbows. However, Brown noted that her sister never brought up the incident ever again, and continued to be with Simpson. “Life went on as usual,” sighed Brown.Considering all of this, the domestic abuse allegations against O.J. Simpson were never taken seriously by the public or the media— until the day of Nicole Brown Simpson’s murder. The docuseries not only honors Nicole Brown Simpson’s legacy but also reminds the audience how devastating the impact of domestic violence can really be.
The two-part docuseries,The Life & Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson,is available to stream on the Lifetime App.
