Reality star and businesswoman Kim Kardashian has revealed that she was the anonymous buyer who spent $80,276 to purchase her late father Robert Kardashian’s Bible, which had once been gifted to former NFL player O.J. Simpson. The transaction was featured on a recent episode of Hulu’s “The Kardashians.”
The Bible, described by Goldin Auctions as “Robert Kardashian Signed, Inscribed, Personally Owned ‘The Living Bible’ given to O.J. Simpson,” was signed on June 18, 1994, one day after Simpson was arrested in connection with the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, according to Page Six.
At the time, Robert Kardashian had reactivated his legal license to join Simpson’s defense team in the highly publicized murder trial, Page Six reported.
Kardashian, 45, unwrapped the Bible on camera while speaking with her 7-year-old daughter, Chicago West. She told her daughter that the book had once belonged to “my daddy” and said she hoped Chicago would one day understand its significance.
“This is really special to me because this used to be my daddy’s,” she was quoted as saying.
She initially believed the book was something her father had bought and inscribed for Simpson, but later discovered it had actually belonged to her father and bore his name.
The reality star explained to her daughter that Robert Kardashian had given the Bible to Simpson “to give him some motivation from Jesus.” As she flipped through the book’s pages, she noticed unfamiliar handwriting and remarked that it was likely Simpson’s. “He went to jail. It’s a long story, I’ll tell you when you’re older,” she said.
The moment, part of the show’s Thursday episode, included a confessional interview in which Kardashian shared about her efforts to recover the Bible.
She said she had originally reached out to the attorney for Simpson’s estate in an attempt to bypass the auction, offering $15,000 to purchase the item directly. People magazine reported that Simpson's estate manager, Malcolm LaVergne, rejected the offer, stating the amount was too low to justify the legal costs.
Kardashian said that once her offer was leaked to TMZ, bidding interest increased. She then used an alias to place the final winning bid.
The Bible was eventually sold for $80,276, including buyer’s premium.
Kardashian later presented the book to her sister, Khloé Kardashian, as a gift. “She was the one [who] showed me this auction first. So I think that she deserves to have this Bible,” she said.
Kardashian told her daughter she doesn’t have many items that belonged to her father. “When my dad died, things happened and we didn’t get a lot of his stuff. Just seeing his name in his handwriting is sentimental to me,” she said.
Robert Kardashian died in September 2003 at the age of 59 from esophageal cancer. O.J. Simpson died in April 2024 from prostate cancer at age 76.
In 1995, Simpson was acquitted of the murders of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman. The following year, a civil court awarded the victims’ families more than $33 million in a wrongful death suit.
