Body Language Expert Tells Us O.J. Simpson's Claims About His Health In This Video Raised Red Flags
O.J. Simpson's death at 76 caught many by surprise since he had been boasting on social media about being in good health in recent months. On February 11, 2024, two days after Local 10 News reported that O.J. Simpson received a prostate cancer diagnosis and was undergoing chemotherapy, he shared a video to put his fans' minds at ease. "My health is good. I mean, obviously, I'm dealing with some issues. But, hey, I think I'm just about over it," he said in a video shared on X platform, previously known as Twitter.
I'm from the Bay and I'm going with Bay!!! Lets go @49ers pic.twitter.com/MoO9TELc8B
— O.J. Simpson (@TheRealOJ32) February 11, 2024
However, body language expert Traci Brown of Body Language Trainer tells Nicki Swift that his video statement raised several red flags. In May 2023, Simpson revealed he had been diagnosed with cancer, though he offered no details as to which kind or its severity. "In recent years, in really recent years, I unfortunately caught cancer," he said in a clip on X platform, suggesting he had been sick for a while before coming forward with this update.
He admitted he had successfully received chemotherapy treatment and added the cancer was gone. "In any event, I'm healthy now. It looks like I beat it," Simpson said. He also revealed his body had responded remarkably well to the chemo and barely felt any nausea, though he attributed that to the help of marijuana. Simpson seemed to have put a lot of effort into looking and sounding healthy, but Brown notes that he looked worried.
O.J. Simpson's body language told a different story
After thanking the support of his fans on February 11, 2024, O.J. Simpson reassured them he was in good health. But then he contracted himself. "He says his health is good. Then corrects himself to say he's just about over it," Traci Brown told Nicki Swift, indicating that the cancer wasn't a past issue as he had previously asserted. His body language when he said it was also telling. "He shakes his head no when he says 'just about over it,'" Brown said.
Simpson also displayed typical signs of someone who is improvising on the spot. "He's looking to our left as he makes the statements which likely indicates he's constructing the info, or making it up," Brown added. Taken individuality, any of these signs could have been coincidental. But together, they paint a different picture. "There are clues laced through this that things weren't as he claimed," Brown concluded.
Two days earlier on February 9, Simpson had also used X platform to deny other speculation about his health. "Hospice? You talking about hospice? No, I'm not in any hospice. I don't know who put that out there. But, whoever put this out there, I guess it's like the Donald says, 'Can't trust the media,'" said O.J. Simpson about Donald Trump. He shot this video while behind the wheel of a car, which suggests he wanted to show he was healthy enough to be out and about on his own.
O.J. Simpson raised health concerns in 2023
O.J. Simpson raised health concerns in the months preceding his death amid a series of outings in Las Vegas. In October 2023, photos published by The U.S. Sun showed a slimmed-down Simpson dressed in black walking hunched forward. The former athlete looked more frail than usual. A few days later, Simpson once again had people wondering if he was OK after he was spotted running errands around town (seen above), the Daily Mail reported.
In both videos, Simpson walked with difficulty and seemed to struggle with his back. According to his May 2023 X video, he had already completed cancer treatment by then, and it is unclear whether he was still suffering the aftereffects of the chemotherapy drugs. Even though he said he was in good health in February, Simpson hadn't been seen out in public since January, weeks before his cancer diagnosis came to light. In his last known photos Simpson used a cane and appeared to walk with a limp, The U.S. Sun pointed out.
While he went to great lengths to prove he was well amid his cancer diagnosis, Simpson previously expressed a different kind of health concern. After being released from jail in October 2017, Simpson feared he might have chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative disease that football players may be at a higher risk of developing. "I have days I can't find words," he told The Buffalo News.