Larry David saw OJ Simpson the day of Nicole Brown Simpson's 1994 murder: book
Larry David recalls seeing O.J. Simpson on the day Nicole Brown Simpson was murdered
Los Angeles – On the morning of June 12, 1994, the day that would become one of the most notorious crime scenes in American history, comedian‑writer Larry David was having breakfast at the exclusive Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles. In his newly released authorized biography, Emperor of Nothing: The Making of Larry David, the 64‑year‑old shares that he and his then‑wife Laurie, their newborn daughter Cazzie, and fellow comedy writer Alan Zweibel were enjoying a quiet meal when they spotted the former NFL star and soon‑to‑be infamous figure O.J. Simpson.
“We saw him in the dining room the day of the murder!” David told the book’s author, Blake Harris. “He was just standing there, and it was surreal.”
Zweibel, who was present at the club, recalls the encounter in more detail. “We were having breakfast and all of a sudden I hear somebody say my name: ‘Zwa‑bell.’ I turn around. It’s O.J. Simpson,” he said. The writer added that he had known the football player from the University of Buffalo, where he had attended while Simpson was playing for the Bills, and that they had crossed paths several times over the years, including when Simpson hosted Saturday Night Live in 1978.
According to Zweibel, the two men met again that afternoon at his daughter’s middle‑school dance recital. “Our daughters were both performing. And on our way out, I again hear a familiar voice,” he recalled. “‘S-…’ O.J. said to me. “Twice in the same day!” The writer later described how he called Simpson by his nickname, “Juice,” and told him that he had nothing new to share since he’d already seen him that morning. “If I could have said something then, it would have been, ‘Stay home tonight! Order in! Don’t go out!’”
The encounter, described in David’s book, takes place on the same day that Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman were brutally murdered outside their home in Los Angeles. Simpson was later charged with the murders, faced a highly publicized trial, and was acquitted in October 1995.
In Emperor of Nothing, David also reflects on his early days as a stand‑up comic in New York City. He admits to walking offstage mid‑set and to having a reputation for being “unprofessional” onstage. “I was young. I had a bad temper. If the audience didn’t like me, I didn’t see the need to keep torturing them,” he said. The biography paints a portrait of a man who was once voted “Least Likely to Accomplish Anything” by his high‑school peers and who worked a series of odd jobs—from carrying bras down Broadway to chauffeuring a half‑blind woman in a limo—before finding his niche in comedy.
The book, which hits bookshelves on October 20, also includes anecdotes about David’s later work as the co‑creator of Seinfeld and the creator and star of Curb Your Enthusiasm. While the biography’s primary focus is David’s career, the inclusion of his breakfast encounter with Simpson offers readers a bizarre footnote to a dark chapter in American history.
The O.J. Simpson case remains a subject of renewed scrutiny. On October 18, the New York Times reported that former drug trafficker Joseph Ippolito, who had ties to Simpson, claimed he had information regarding efforts to dispose of evidence, including a murder weapon that has never been recovered. The claim, however, is unrelated to the events of June 12, 1994.
For now, the most striking detail from Emperor of Nothing is that a celebrated comedian found himself at a club with the man who would become the focus of one of the nation’s most controversial trials—all on the day the world was shocked by a violent crime.
