How OJ Simpson's 'trial of the century' shattered the Kardashians: Kris Jenner and ex Robert went to war over Nicole Simpson's murder - leaving Kim and Kourtney forced to CHOOSE between their parents... with family still split over what really happened

The year was 1995 and it was a case that riveted a nation: OJ Simpson, the beloved football superstar was on trial for the grisly double homicide of his ex-wife Nicole Brown, and her friend Ron Goldman. 

Kim Kardashian still remembers the day her father, the legendary entertainment lawyer Robert Kardashian, pulled her and her sister Kourtney, out of school early 'to witness a piece of history.'

A close family friend to the Kardashians, OJ, who today passed away at the age of 76, was known as 'Uncle OJ', while his ex-wife, with whom they shared many family vacations with, was lovingly known to Kim, Kourtney, Khloe and their siblings as 'Auntie Nicole.' 

But the Kardashian family's close ties with OJ and Nicole would ultimately result in one of their toughest battles - with Robert and family matriarch Kris left bitterly divided over what was later branded 'the trial of the century'. 

Nowhere was this rift clearer than in the courtroom, where the former couple made their respective allegiances painfully clear, with Kris taking up her spot alongside Nicole's grieving loved ones, while across the aisle, Robert was seated next to accused murderer OJ, having readily stepped up to represent his longtime friend in the trial. 

That great divide between mother and father quickly filtered down to their children - who, despite their naivety, were forced to choose their own sides. 

When Kim `and Kourtney took a seat behind their father on the defendant's side of the courtroom, they noticed their mother, Kris Jenner sitting on the opposite side in support of her best friend of a decade, Nicole Brown.   

Just 13-years-old at the time, Kim recalled to David Letterman in 2020 that, 'It tore my family apart, I'd say, for the whole time of the trial.' 

She admitted that the 15-month legal battle was 'really tough' for her and older sister Kourtney, who felt like they had to pick a side. 

Today the notorious murder suspect, who was later found civilly liable for the deaths of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman, passed away aged 76 at his home in Las Vegas on Wednesday night, following a short battle with prostate cancer. 

Over the years, Kris has spoken out about her horror she felt that her close friend Nicole Brown had been brutally stabbed in her home in Los Angeles back in 1994.

The momager said she still could not believe what had happened as she sat in court during OJ Simpson's trial the following year, where her lawyer ex-husband Robert Kardashian was helping defend her best friend's suspected killer.

Kris and Nicole forged a close bond through their husbands' mutual friendship. And the women remained friends after Kris' divorce from Robert in 1991, and through her second marriage to the Olympian, Caitlyn Jenner (formerly known as Bruce).

Kim explained to GQ in October 2023 that she and Kourtney opted to spend more time with their dad during the trial because they felt their mom was 'happily remarried' while their father was 'by himself.' 

'We walked in [the courtroom] and saw my mom sitting on the other side,' the SKIMS founder recalled. 'She said, "You're supposed to be in school. What are you doing here?" Kourtney and I didn't even look at her.'

'Kourtney and I were drawn to our dad. We felt like Mom was happily remarried, so we would live with Dad. We didn't want him to be by himself,' she continued.

'We just always thought my dad was the smartest person in the world,' Kim said in an earlier interview with Rolling Stone. 'And he really believed in his friend.'

The reality star also opened up about how the OJ trial affected her family during a 2020 appearance on David Letterman's Netflix show, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction.

'My mom was extremely vocal on her feelings... she believed that her friend was murdered by him and that was really traumatizing for her,' she said.

'And then we'd go to my dad's house and it was a whole other situation there. We didn't really know what to believe or whose side to take as kids, because we didn't want to hurt one of our parents' feelings.'

She also spoke further about her mother's reaction to her and Kourtney skipping school.

She continued, 'I remember my mom was sitting with Nicole's parents, and Kourtney and I were sitting behind OJ, and we look over at my mom and she's giving us this death stare - like, "What are you doing out of school? What are you doing here?"

'Kourtney and I were like, "Just look straight - do not look at mom." It tore my family apart, I'd say, for the whole time of the trial.'

OJ was ultimately acquitted of the crime and continues to maintain his innocence.

Robert and OJ first met in 1967, when OJ was the star running back for the University of Southern California Trojans, and Kardashian was a glorified waterboy — they had at best, a fleeting acquaintance.

They a few years later while playing tennis at a mutual friend's house, by then, Robert, had become a very successful entertainment businessman and lawyer, and OJ was a hero of the Buffalo Bills.

The two men quickly developed a friendship and also became business partners, capitalizing on OJ's nickname 'the juice' by opening a chain of yogurt and juice stores known as 'Juice Inc.' They also invested in Concert Cinema, which would show music videos before movies in theaters.

Soon, the friends introduced wives into the circle. Kardashian tied the knot with Kristen Mary Houghton (later known as Kris Jenner) from San Diego in 1978, while Simpson, who was initially married to Marguerite, eventually divorced her and remarried Nicole Brown. 

During Simpson's marriage troubles to his first wife Marguerite, he would often come live at the Kardashian household. It was there, that he became known as 'Uncle OJ.' 

OJ had been a part of Jenner’s life for as long as she had known Robert. She confirmed on The Hollywood Reporter's podcast 2017, that he visited her in the hospital after she gave birth to Kourtney.

Kris 'instantly connected' with Nicole when the blonde bombshell began dating OJ in 1979.  

'I remember thinking how beautiful Nicole was and how young and how blond,' she told Slate in 2016. 

'Nicole brought OJ a lot of happiness—you could see it. She lit up his life. They were golden together.'

But unbeknownst to Kris was OJ's dark and violent side, prone to jealousy and explosive outbursts.

Early on, OJ punched Nicole in the face but apologized a few days later by buying her a Porsche. And so went the tumultuous cycle of makeup-and-breakup all throughout the couple's 13-year relationship. 

Eventually the couple welcomed two children, Sydney Brooke Simpson (1985) and Justin Ryan Simpson (1988). Together, the Kardashians and Simpsons went on family trips to Mexico and ski trips to Aspen.

On New Year’s Eve 1988, OJ beat Nicole so severely that she was required hospital treatment. The ex-football player repeatedly screamed, 'I’ll kill you!'  

It was the ninth time cops had been called to their Brentwood mansion for a domestic dispute.

OJ was arrested and given a slap on the wrists with a court order to go for psychiatric counseling. Within four months the fractious couple were back together again. 

Nicole and OJ officially divorced in 1993, one year before her hacked body was found lying in a pool of blood outside her condo. 

Kris recalled to The Hollywood Reporter how she was set to meet with Nicole later on that morning. After the initial shock of the news wore off, Kris said 'I just felt like I knew, probably, what had happened.'

Nicole 'had documented 17 years of abuse' in the form of photographs, Kris wrote in her 2011 memoir, All Things Kardashian.

'She really wanted someone close to her to know what was going on, so that somebody — namely me — could be a witness.'

In the aftermath, Robert, who hadn't practiced law in over two decades, renewed his legal license to join OJ's infamous 'Dream Team' of defense lawyers, that included Johnnie Cochran and Robert Shapiro. 

'Right before the trial started, Robert sat down and wrote us a handwritten letter and just said, 'Look, I know you don't agree with what is going down here, but this is what I have to do for my friend,'' Kris recalled during a 2009 interview with Dr. Phil.

Although she staunchly disagreed with his decision, Kris said her ex-husband 'believed in what he was doing, and he was asking us for his support.'

It would be Cochran, who uttered the now infamous phrase, 'If the glove don't fit, you must acquit' during the trial when a pair of bloody gloves were presented as evidence, appeared to be too small for OJ's hands.

Kris claimed that she was with Nicole in New York City when she purchased those gloves as a gift for OJ earlier that year. 

Kris and Robert's marriage was all but over after the birth of their fourth child, Robert Jr., in 1987.

She began an affair with a young man who, at 23, was ten years her junior. Despite her infidelity, OJ was protective of Kris, 'like a big brother.' 

Years later, OJ's ex manager made the sensational claim that the ex-footballer once bragged  about his steamy 'hot-tub hookup' with Kris Jenner that sent her to the hospital because of the size of his manhood.

OJ responded by categorically denying the story, stating that 'Robert Kardashian was like a brother to me.'

'Never — and I want to stress, never, in any shape or form — have I ever had any interest in Kris, romantically or sexually,' he added. 'And I never got any indication that she had any interest in me. So all of these stories are bogus, bad, tasteless.'

Kris married Caitlyn (formerly Bruce) in 1991 after her divorce from her Robert was finalized.

She attended the court hearings throughout her entire pregnancy with daughter, Kendall Jenner, and later honored her murdered friend by giving Kendall the middle name of 'Nicole.' 

The ex-Olympian spoke about how the explosive trial created tension in his new blended family.

'I remember the day the verdict came through and [Kourtney, Kim and Khloé] came in and they said, "I told you he didn't do it,"' she recalled in 2009 during an appearance on Dr. Phil.

'We sat down and I said, 'Look, just because he got a not guilty verdict doesn't mean he didn't do it, and I just don't want to hear his name anymore.' And I had a lot of conversations with Robert to try to make sure it didn't tear the family apart.'

Those who followed the trial closely will remember the unhappy look on Robert Kardashian's face when the 'not guilty' verdict was read. It was a confusing image for the man who tore apart his own family to protect his close friend.

In her 2017 memoir, Caitlin claimed that Robert secretly believed OJ was guilty and  once told her, 'I would've been OK with it if they had gotten him in the first trial.'

'The implication was obvious that he believed OJ was guilty,' Caitlyn wrote of her takeaway from that exchange in the book.

Today, in reaction to the news of OG's death, Jenner, 74, posted to his X, formerly Twitter account: 'Good Riddance.'