OJ Simpson Got No Payout from Cosmopolitan in Defamation Case, Court Docs Show

Posted on: September 29, 2021, 10:16h. 

Last updated on: September 29, 2021, 10:38h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.

The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas “settled” for nothing in a recent defamation case brought by OJ Simpson.

OJ Simpson
A screengrab of video taken from the night OJ Simpson was kicked out of the Cosmo under controversial circumstances. (Image: Brian Munz/Twitter via LVRJ)

That’s according to court documents related to legal action taken by Ron Goldman’s father, Fred Goldman. The Goldman family had sought to recover any compensation the former football running back might have received from the Strip casino.

Ron Goldman was killed along with Simpson’s ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, in June 1994. While the former star was acquitted of their murders, he was later found liable for Goldman’s death at a civil trial and ordered to pay the family $33.5 million in damages.

To date, he has paid $132,849.53, while the sum owed has accrued an extra $25 million in interest.

Undefameable?

Simpson sued the Strip casino in 2019, two years after he was released from a Nevada prison for armed robbery. He claimed hotel workers had defamed him by telling TMZ he’d been banned for being “drunk and disruptive”

The claims were apparently false, as Simpson took tests for drugs and alcohol the day after the alleged incident as part of his parole conditions, and passed.

Had he been found to have breached those conditions, he could have ended up in prison for another 24 years.

Simpson, who has lived in Las Vegas since his release, claimed he had been the victim of “malice and racial prejudice.”

Pointing to his legal history, lawyers for the Cosmopolitan argued that it couldn’t have damaged Simpson’s reputation because it was already tarnished beyond repair. They said casinos have the legal right to kick out anyone they want.

‘No Money Changed Hands’

The two parties settled the case out of court in March 2020 for an undisclosed sum. At the same time, Goldman filed a motion asking that the proceeds from the settlement be paid directly by the Cosmo to Goldman’s lawyers, which was granted.

On Tuesday, a Las Vegas judge accepted the casino’s argument that it owed nothing to the Goldmans because the undisclosed sum in the settlement was precisely zero.

“No money changed hands between the two,” the judge said in court documents seen by 13 Action News.

The Cosmopolitan has asked to be absolved of any future legal action related to the case.

In 2018, before he filed the suit, Simpson’s lawyer was threatening the casino with a $100 million lawsuit. That was later revised to $30,000, plus damages.