How O.J. Simpson's murder trial spotlighted and divided the Kardashian family

When Kim Kardashian was a teenager, her family was thrust into the limelight for the first time due to her dad Robert Kardashian's close friendship with O.J. Simpson.

After Simpson, who died on April 10 of cancer at age 76, was accused in June 1994 of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman, retired attorney Robert Kardashian renewed his license to join Simpson's high-profile team of lawyers, dubbed the "Dream Team" by the media.

The decision would position the Kardashian family at the center of one of the 20th century's most notorious murder trials.

Here’s what to know about the connection between the Kardashian family and Simpson.

The O.J. Simpson murder trial divided the Kardashian family

Simpson and Robert Kardashian, who died in September 2003, became friends in the 1970s, and the NFL Hall of Famer has said he is Kim Kardashian's godfather.

Simpson's late ex-wife, Brown Simpson, was the best friend of Kim Kardashian's mom, Kris Jenner.

Brown Simpson and Goldman were found stabbed to death in Los Angeles in June 1994. Simpson initially evaded arrest, leading officers on an infamous televised car chase, before he was charged with their murders.

The former athlete's televised trial created a stark division between Robert Kardashian and Kris Jenner, who, despite divorcing in 1991, remained close, Kim Kardashian recalled during a 2019 episode of "E! True Hollywood Story."

In 1991, Jenner remarried Olympic gold medalist Caitlyn Jenner, who came out as a transgender woman in 2015.

"My family was always super close except for the time when my dad was representing O.J. and my mom was Nicole's best friend," Kim Kardashian said in 2019.

The reality star and Skims founder recalled how she and her older sister, Kourtney Kardashian, angered their mom by joining their dad in the courtroom.

“One day my dad took me and Kourtney in to the trial, and my mom happened to be sitting with Nicole's family, and we looked over and my mom's, like, looking at us like, 'What are you girls doing here and why are you sitting on that side?'" Kim Kardashian said.

She added, "It was like the first time my family really got divided."

Robert Kardashian became a target of public outrage

As the long and internationally publicized trial continued playing out in the media, Robert Kardashian became a target to some.

"During the trial, we all went to dinner with my dad and we come back from dinner and on the side of his car it said 'N-word lover,'" Kim Kardashian recalled.

Kris Jenner revealed during the same episode that Simpson’s trial played a pivotal role for a then-teenage Kim Kardashian, who later began studying to be a lawyer in her own right.

"Going through the O.J. Simpson trial had a very strong effect on her life later on and certainly would have helped develop a really thick skin," Kris Jenner said.

Some of the Kardashian children ‘celebrated’ O.J. Simpson’s acquittal with him

In 1995, Simpson was found not guilty on all charges after a months-long trial in the murders of Brown Simpson and Goldman. Two years later, he was found liable for their deaths in a civil suit brought on by the victim's families.

Kim Kardashian recalled during the episode that she and her siblings went to Simpson's house to "celebrate" the 1995 verdict with him.

"All the kids stayed home from school. We saw the verdict and then afterwards my dad called us and was like, 'OK, meet me at Uncle OJ's house. We're all going to go there and celebrate,'" she said.

She now looks back on her family's involvement in the notorious trial as something nearly surreal.

"Now if I tell people, like, 'Oh yeah, I was at Uncle OJ's house right after the verdict. I didn't even think it was a big deal," she explained, adding, "It's just crazy to me to even think that that was normal life."

Caitlyn Jenner reacts to O.J. Simpson’s death

Caitlyn Jenner is the only member of the Kardashian-Jenner family to have addressed Simpson's death at the time of publication.

Caitlyn Jenner posted, “Good Riddance," adding the hashtag, #OJSimpson on X Thursday.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com