The People vs OJ Simpson: Where are they now?

From various book deals to reality television

Johnnie Cochran, Marcia Clark, Robert Shapiro and Christopher Darden in court in March, 1995 (POOL/AFP/Getty Images)

American Crime Story: The People vs OJ Simpson has catapulted the trial of the 20th century into the 21st century.

The series has gripped the US, becoming the most watched show on cable TV behind The Walking Dead with a finale attracting over seven million viewers. The show has also been successful in the UK, airing weekly on BBC Two.

The Hollywood nature of the trial actually rings true in terms of what several people involved in the trial went on to do once it drew to a close. Many of those involved in the trial went on to write books and several took on acting and other jobs in the entertainment industry.

Despite a segment of viewers being of an age that won’t remember the actual trial, the series resonates due to the inclusion of one of the world’s most famous families.

Robert Kardashian, longtime friend-turned-lawyer for Simpson is the father of Kim, Khloe, Kourtney and Rob Kardashian and the ex-husband of Kris Jenner, whose best friend was murder victim Nicole Brown.

The Kardashian children are portrayed in the series as young teenagers as their father’s fame increases due to the trial. We all know what the Kardashians went on to do (create a million dollar empire of reality shows, clothing and beauty lines, apps and emojis and grace countless magazine front covers) but what happened to other individuals caught up in the trial?

OJ Simpson

After being found not guilty of the crimes in 1995, a civil suit later found Simpson “liable” for the death of Ron Goldman and battery of Brown. He was ordered to pay millions of dollars in damages to the family of Goldman who brought the case. In 2008, Simpson was sentenced to 15 years in jail for his role in a kidnapping and armed robbery in Las Vegas.

Marcia Clark

Marcia Clark (Myung J. Chun/AFP/Getty Images)

After the crushing defeat, Clark never practised law again and her book Without a Doubt was released in 1998. She became a correspondent for Entertainment Tonight covering trials including Simpson’s 2008 trial. She went on to write three more books as well as regularly contributing columns to the Daily Beast and had a starring role as a lawyer in TV show Pretty Little Liars.

Chris Darden

Following the trial, Darden left the LA District Attorney’s Office and became a criminal defence attorney, lecturing at California State University. He married and had three children and wrote a book In Contempt. He recently didn’t seem to be too thrilled with The People vs OJ Simpson telling Entertainment Tonight he should have been “compensated”.

Chris Darden (POOL/AFP/Getty Images)

Robert Kardashian

Robert Kardashian and OJ Simpson (POOL/AFP/Getty Images)

Kardashian spoke at length about the trial in 1996, telling veteran broadcaster Barbara Walters: “I have doubts [about his innocence], the blood evidence is the biggest thorn in my side.” He also admitted their once inseparable friendship had frayed, “The relationship is not the same as it once was nor will it ever be. Because I have doubts.” Kardashian died of cancer in 2003.

Robert Shapiro

Robert Shapiro and OJ Simpson (LOIS BERNSTIEN/AFP/Getty Images)

Shapiro was a well-established celebrity lawyer before representing Kardashian having previously represented stars including Linda Lovelace. Since the trial he has represented more celebrities reportedly including Lindsay Lohan, Rob Kardashian (Jr) and Eva Longoria. He went on to continue practicing law and wrote the 1996 book The Search for Justice: A Defense Attorney’s Brief on the O.J. Simpson Case and 2002 book Legal Zoo. He also works to raise awareness on drug abuse, creating The Brent Shapiro Foundation after his 24-year-old son struggled with drug and alcohol addiction and died in 2005 after drinking alcohol and taking ecstasy.

Johnnie Cochran

Johnnie Cochran and OJ Simpson (Myung Chun/AFP/Getty Images)

Cochran went on to represent clients in high-profile cases including a Haitian migrant Abner Louima who was sodomised with a plunger while in police custody in New York. Cochran’s final case before he retired was representing rapper Puff Daddy, real name Sean Combs, when he was accused of weapons charges in 2001. Cochran also had a TV show Johnnie Cochran Tonight. He passed away in 2005 from a brain tumour.

Kato Kaelin

Aspiring actor Kaelin had been staying in a guest house at Simpson’s property and gained fame for appearing as a witness for the prosecution, later being declared a “hostile witness” by Judge Ito. Following the trial, he successfully sued the National Enquirer after they ran the headline “Cops Think Kato Did It!" with a picture of him in his underwear a week after Simpson’s acquittal. The judgement, which ruled that headlines alone can be defamatory, is seen as a landmark in US libel law. Kaelin is now a TV personality in the states having appeared in films, TV shows, radio shows and reality TV shows like Celebrity Boot Camp.

Brian 'Kato' Kaelin on the witness stand during the trial (POOL/AFP/Getty Images)

Faye Resnick

The Kardashians aren’t the only individuals to end up on reality television following the trial as Resnick is regularly included on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Following her tell-all book which was published during the trial, she posed nude for Playboy in 1997 and has made appearances on Keeping up with the Kardashians as a friend of Kris Jenner.

Mark Fuhrman

The former police detective who denied using racist language and was then tried for perjury for this denial resigned from the LAPD in 1995. In 1996 he pleaded no contest to the perjury charges and was sentenced to three years probation and fined $200. Fuhrman wrote a book Murder in Brentwood about the Simpson case and has since appeared as a “forensic and crime scene expert” on US conservative broadcaster Fox News.