One of the weirder moments of the 2006 O.J. Simpson interview that aired Sunday night was Simpson’s account of the famous car chase, when he was in a white Ford Bronco with his friend Al Cowlings. The chase took place when Simpson didn’t turn himself over to authorities after the deaths of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
Simpson discussed the chase, where police tailed him on a California highway while television cameras captured the whole thing. He recalled seeing fans showing support, holding signs saying “Go O.J.” He said he was listening to the radio, where he was “depicted as a fugitive,” yet people were cheering him from the side of the road.
It wasn’t until he heard a radio discussion of past incidents where police were called to his house, Simpson claimed, that he realized people might view him as a bad guy.
“I just remember listening to the radio, which, I think it was Dan Rather, it really saved my life,” Simpson said. “Because when he said that O.J. had a history, police were at their house all the time, eight or nine times, that was the first time that week that I kinda woke up! Hey man, listen to what they’re saying about me!”
Simpson said that when he was in the car with Cowlings, he was planning on going to Nicole’s grave, but after listening to the radio, he decided to just go home.
“This is b.s. what they’re doing here, get me to my house,” he said.
[Image via Fox screengrab]