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Norm Macdonald’s recurring O.J. Simpson jokes on Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update made him seem like Simpson’s most relentless comic critic. The “greatest hater” label is a playful description, not a documented quote or proof of private animosity—and Macdonald’s later jokes turned some of the scrutiny back on himself.
Why Norm Macdonald kept joking about O.J. Simpson
Macdonald was anchoring Weekend Update as the Simpson criminal trial gripped the country. A December 1995 Los Angeles Times profile described him as regularly skewering Simpson, alongside political figures such as Bob Dole. The jokes were part of his recurring news satire, not just a single reaction to the verdict.
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A surviving transcript of the September 30, 1995, broadcast records Macdonald joking about the case and Johnnie Cochran trying on the knit cap prosecutors said Simpson wore. The transcript is from an unofficial archive, rather than an NBC-hosted record, but it captures how the trial had become a continuing subject on the segment.
Macdonald’s approach to comedy helps explain the bluntness. In the Los Angeles Times interview, he said, “If you don’t believe in the joke, why do it in the first place?” He also argued, “Don’t let the audience be the judge of what’s funny. You either think it’s funny or you don’t.” Those were statements about his comedy generally, not a specific explanation of his Simpson material.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsThe famous post-acquittal joke
On October 3, 1995, Simpson was acquitted of the criminal charges in the killings of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. The Washington Post reports that Macdonald opened the next Weekend Update with, “Well, it is finally official,” before delivering the punchline: “Murder is legal in the state of California.” The line was a comic response to the acquittal, not a statement of the court’s legal reasoning.
The criminal verdict and the later civil case were separate outcomes. In February 1997, a civil jury found Simpson liable for the deaths and ordered him to pay $33.5 million to the victims’ families, according to the Associated Press. The acquittal did not prevent that civil finding.
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Did the Simpson jokes get Macdonald removed from Weekend Update?
Macdonald left Weekend Update midway through the 1997–98 SNL season, and later accounts have linked the change to his Simpson jokes. But the Washington Post describes a broader dispute: executive Don Ohlmeyer removed writer Jim Downey, and Macdonald chose not to continue without him. The available account does not establish the jokes as the sole cause, so it is too strong to say Macdonald was definitively fired for criticizing Simpson.
From critic to “rusher to judgment”
The story did not end with the Weekend Update jokes. Macdonald later tried to book Simpson for an interview on his sports show, with the murders excluded from discussion, but the interview never happened. In a 2017 Daily Beast interview, Macdonald recalled that Simpson’s lawyer had initially indicated Simpson would appear, then returned with Simpson’s question about whether this was the Norm Macdonald from NBC and the observation that he was “a little tough.” That is Macdonald’s recollection, not independent confirmation from Simpson or his lawyer.
In 2019, Macdonald revisited the subject with a joke that shifted the target. He called Simpson “the greatest rusher in the history of the NFL,” then added, “Maybe I was the greatest rusher to judgment.” The Associated Press reports that Simpson became the first NFL player to rush for at least 2,000 yards in a season in 1973, finishing with 2,003. Macdonald’s punchline used that football achievement to make himself, rather than Simpson, the subject of the judgment joke.
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The phrase fits the persistence and sharpness of Macdonald’s public jokes, particularly during the trial and after the acquittal. It should not be mistaken for a measurable ranking: there is no established count or audience measure proving he was literally Simpson’s “greatest” critic. The documented record is more interesting than a simple feud: Macdonald repeatedly mocked Simpson, the reason for his departure from Weekend Update remains uncertain, and years later he made himself the punchline.
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