All the Times Norm Macdonald Reached Out to O.J.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before but Norm Macdonald didn’t seem to like O.J. Simpson very much. At the very least, Macdonald believed Simpson was guilty of murder. Given the choice of shutting up about it or losing his job, SNL’s Weekend Update anchor chose the latter. Conan O’Brien told CNN yesterday that Macdonald’s jokes represented “some of the most brilliant comedy of anybody during that whole period.” But despite Macdonald’s obvious vitriol, the comic appears to have reached out to Simpson several times over the years, probably out of a commitment to cringe rather than a desire to make amends.

The I’m Not Norm YouTube channel posted an interview last year in which Norm describes reaching out to Simpson’s lawyers about an appearance on Macdonald’s Sports Show. “Well, the lawyer said — this was funny — he goes, ‘Oh, I bet O.J. would do it,’” Macdonald remembered. “He didn't have no idea who I was, right? And it was very funny to me because when he came back, he goes, ‘Are you a comedian?’ I go, ‘Yeah.’ He goes, ‘Oh, you're the comedian Norm Macdonald.’ And I go, ‘Yeah.’ He goes, ‘Oh yeah, O.J. doesn't like you at all.’”

Needless to say, there was no O.J. interview on Sports Show with Norm Macdonald. 

The Athletic’s Tim Graham shared a story yesterday — he had been sworn to secrecy on this one, he says, but the deaths of Simpson and Macdonald have left him free to tell the tale. “In my reporting on O.J., I was shown DMs from Norm MacDonald's twitter account, asking O.J. to play golf with him at Canyon Gate while in town for the 2019 WSOP: "bygones be bygones," Norm said.”

“Norm's first offer was to do a scripted bit, and then just to play ‘for laughs,’" Graham tweeted. “They never did get together, I'm told, although O.J. WAS going to do Norm's podcast.”

Talk about a missed opportunity. Graham’s story has veracity as we know Macdonald had publicly reached out after Simpson joined Twitter back in 2019. In true O.J. fashion, his first tweet was both jocular and ominous: “It should be a lot of fun,” he promised about his new social media presence. “I got a little getting even to do.”

Macdonald wasted no time welcoming Simpson to the platform. “Hey, OJ, it's Norm,” he greeted. “Listen, be careful about the videos you put out there. I recognize the golf course behind your house I know that exact street and could easily print your address. Of course I never would, but others would. Be careful, Juice.”

What’s a little doxing threat between old friends?