Opinion: O.J. goes Smithsonian? Really?
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Is this what Solomon would have decided?
For a baker’s dozen of years, ex-sports star O.J. Simpson’s former sports agent and Fred Goldman, who won a civil judgment against Simpson in the murders of Goldman’s son, Ron, and Simpson’s ex-wife, Nicole Brown, have gone round and round in court over ... a suit.
Not a lawsuit. An actual suit. The tannish-looking one Simpson wore the day in 1995 that he was acquitted of the double murders.
The reason that ownership of said garment was a matter of legal dispute is that it could, some say, be worth thousands -- and Simpson still owes Goldman about $33 million and change in the civil suit.
But Simpson didn’t have possession of the suit [shirt and necktie included] all these years, His ex-agent, Mike Gilbert, did.
Today’s Solomonic settlement donates the dispute suit to ... the Smithsonian, the nation’s attic, repository of all things whimsical and historical, from Archie Bunker’s easy chair to the top hat Lincoln was wearing the night he was assassinated. But as the Associated Press reports, nobody’s evidently yet checked to see whether the Smithsonian wants it.
Gilbert said outside the courtroom, ``It’s part of American history. People should be able to see it and reflect on what went so wrong for someone who had everything.’
The man for whom things ‘’went so wrong’’ won’t be needing a suit for nine to 33 years, seeing as how he’s serving time in a Nevada prison for kidnap and robbery convictions. But I can’t imagine he isn’t relishing the idea of his ‘’told you so’’ suit on display at one of the most famous museums in the world.
If the muckety-mucks at the Smithsonian are wondering whether they should accept such an exhibition, whether anyone would even care to see such a thing, I’ll donate my vox pop right now: Rather than waste a minute gazing upon the Simpson suit, I’d sooner spend all day visiting an exhibit on the history of the ZIP Code. Even if it didn’t have a gift shop.
-- Patt Morrison
