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Many people were stunned and appalled when OJ Simpson’s executor Malcolm LaVergne told the media on Friday that he hopes the Goldmans ‘get zero, nothing’ from the late Heisman Trophy winner’s estate.
OJ Simpson reportedly owes the family of Ron Goldman over $96 million after being found liable for the wrongful death of Goldman in 1997.
The former NFL running back has paid them less than $135,000. Meanwhile, the New York Post reports that “The Juice” had been squirreling away millions of dollars using a secretive network of corporations operating only in cash.
LaVergne, who had represented Simpson since 2009, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal following Simpson’s death that he was surprised he was named executor.
“I am flummoxed as to why he would name me as the personal representative or the executor, but he did,” LaVergne said. “And it’s something I’m going to take very seriously.”
So seriously, in fact, that he added, “It’s my hope that the Goldmans get zero, nothing. Them specifically. And I will do everything in my capacity as the executor or personal representative to try and ensure that they get nothing.”
However, on Sunday, after a slew of negative reactions to his statement, Malcolm LaVergne walked things back quite a bit.
“In hindsight, in response to that statement that ‘it’s my hope they get zero, nothing,’ I think that was pretty harsh,” LaVergne told NBC News. “Now that I understand my role as the executor and the personal representative, it’s time to tone down the rhetoric and really get down to what my role is as a personal representative.”
Many people have also been calling for OJ Simpson’s brain to be studied for signs of CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy).
LaVergne put the kibosh on that.
“That’s a hard no,” he said. “His entire body, including his brain, will be cremated.”
In semi-related news, with Simpson’s death, the owners of the infamous Ford Bronco used in Simpson’s slow-speed highway chase on June 17, 1994 is selling the vehicle and hoping to get at least $1.5 million for it.
Perhaps some of that money can somehow make its way to the Goldman family after over 30 years of trying to get OJ Simpson to pay his court ordered debt to them.