OJ SIMPSON made history as an NFL running back, broadcaster, and actor, but his success was overshadowed by his controversial personal life, including a trial – and acquittal – for the murders of his second wife and her friend, Ron Goldman.
Simpson passed away from prostate cancer on April 10, 2024, surrounded by family and friends, including his children from his first marriage to Marguerite Whitley.
Marguerite Whitley may not be a household name, but she is best known as being OJ Simpson’s first wife.
Not much is known of Whitley’s early life, only that she was born and raised in Los Angeles, California.
She attended Galileo High School before earning a degree at the University of Southern California in 1967.
Whitley and Simpson had met in high school, and were first introduced as a result of her dating Simpson’s close friend, Al Cowlings.
The duo began dating in 1965 and wed while they were both still college students.
They got married on June 24. 1967, when Simpson was just 19 years old.
Whitley, born on March 20, 1949, was just 18 years old at the time of their nuptials.
In 1968, Simpson, a senior, earned the Heisman Trophy, the Walter Camp Award, and the Maxwell Award, becoming one of the most decorated collegiate football players at the time.
He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills, and signed what was then the largest contract in professional sports history: $650,000 over five years.
For his career, Simpson, Whitley, and their family moved to New York, settling in the Amherst neighborhood.
While the couple lived a lavish lifestyle, their relationship had its fair share of ups and downs.
Simpson’s infidelity, ego, and overall immaturity led Whitley to file for divorce in the mid-1970s, but she eventually called it off for the sake of their children.
However, once Simpson reportedly met his second wife, Nicole Brown, while he was still married to Whitley in 1977, their relationship began to crumble.
Whitley and Simpson ultimately separated and began living in separate homes in 1978.
Whitley filed for divorce again, and the duo finalized their divorce in March 1979, with Whitley receiving alimony along with $1,500 monthly child support payments.
While Whitley has cited numerous reasons for ending their marriage, Simpson also went on record during a 1979 interview with People magazine.
“The price of fame was our biggest problem,” O.J. said, as reported by Vogue.
“My wife is a private person, yet we can’t walk down the street without causing a commotion,” he added, referring to Whitley.
Marguerite Whitley and OJ Simpson were only married for 12 years, but managed to welcome three children during their relationship.
The couple were parents to Arnelle L. Simpson, born in 1968, Jason Lamar Simpson, born in 1970, and Aaren Lashone Simpson, born in 1977.
In a tragic turn of events, the couple’s youngest child, daughter Aaren, died on Monday, August 27, 1979, at just 23 months old.
She passed away at the UCLA Medical Center eight days after she was initially pulled out of the family’s swimming pool, unconscious.
Simpson later had two children with his second wife, Nicole Brown, including daughter Sydney Brooke, born in 1985, and son Justin Ryan, born in 1988.
Like OJ Simpson mentioned, Marguerite Whitley preferred a life out of the spotlight.
After the duo divorced, Whitley ended up marrying a transit supervisor named Rudolph Lewis.
The couple tied the knot in 1986, though their marriage was relatively short-lived, and they divorced in 1991.
On April 3, 1992, Whitley married a furniture sales representative named Anthony Thomas.
Still, she couldn’t escape the shadow of her first husband, at least during interviews with the media.
Whitley shot down rumors of abuse or aggression – on OJ’s part – during a January 1995 interview on 20/20, as reported by Vogue.
Whitley told Barbara Walters that she would be “willing to testify” that OJ had never hit her during their relationship.
“If he did, he would have got a frying pan upside his head,” she said.
“There was just no way that I would allow that to happen to me,” she added.
During that same interview, she also stated that she believed Simpson to be innocent of murdering Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman.
“He’s just not like that,” she said.
Whitley did notably attend OJ’s trial, sitting next to their surviving children.
Aside from the 20/20 interview, she never publicly spoke about OJ or their relationship, and all but disappeared from the public eye following the trial.
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