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O.J. Simpson Gives ‘Mixed Reviews’ To Cuba Gooding Jr. On His Portrayal In ‘The People v. O.J. Simpson’

By Niki Cruz
Published on: 03:26 PST, Feb 5, 2016

O.J. Simpson may be incarcerated for a 2007 crime he committed, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have an opinion about the widely discussed miniseries The People v. O.J. Simpson. The miniseries from Ryan Murphy looks at Simpson’s infamous trial for the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman.

As many know, Cuba Gooding Jr. had the difficult task of portraying O.J. Simpson during a time that changed the way we view trials. Although Cuba Gooding Jr. didn’t reach out to Simpson, it sounds like O.J. had a few things to say about Gooding Jr.’s performance, even though we’re just one episode in so far.

Cuba Gooding Jr. stopped by Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live! to discuss The People v. O.J. Simpson.

Cuba said, “He must be posted up at the payphone in jail right now. It’s like everybody keeps giving a quote that he said.”

Gooding Jr. said he had read that O.J. said that although he hadn’t seen the miniseries, he said, “Cuba’s portrayal — I feel indifferent about.”

The actor seemed less than excited about Simpson’s thoughts about his portrayal.

At the time, he told Cohen, “Well, what is it? Have you seen the show or you feel indifferent?”

That said, even though O.J. hasn’t seen the show, an estimated 5.1 million viewers have watched the first episode, which makes this series a hit straight out the gate.

As the Inquisitr reported, Cuba Gooding Jr. didn’t reach out to O.J. Simpson prior to his portrayal because he didn’t want to be influenced by what O.J. may or may not have said to him about the murders of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman. Many still think that Simpson committed these crimes, even though he was acquitted of these charges during the 1995 trial.

Although Cuba didn’t reach out to Simpson, he did have a message for Nicole Brown’s family as well as Ron Goldman’s family. Gooding Jr. was very sensitive and empathetic about the matter.

“I just hope that they find some peace because I can’t imagine what they’re going through. You know, when I signed on to this project, it was because Ryan Murphy was doing it and I want to work with real filmmakers and that first and foremost was my reasoning for accepting this role.”

Unfortunately, Ron Goldman’s family isn’t happy with how he was portrayed in the first episode. Many believe that Goldman just stumbled upon the murder scene, and therefore was killed for being a witness to the murder.

Ron Goldman’s sister spoke to the Today show about her disappointment with the FX production. Of her brother, she called him a hero. The family believes that Goldman, a waiter and friend of Nicole’s, was returning Nicole’s glasses from the restaurant she had left them at, and when he got to her residence, he tried to save her life, which unfortunately led to the loss of both lives.

“What I think is unfortunately going to get lost in this is that my brother was doing a good deed. And [he] walked in on what we believe was a horrific crime and he didn’t run. They don’t show that in this and that really sucks.”

What do you think of Simpson’s comments about the new miniseries The People v. O.J. Simpson and Cuba Gooding Jr.’s portrayal of Simpson?

[Photo by Steve Marcus-Pool/Getty Images]

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