'The Naked Gun' filmmaker reveals reason for adding O.J. Simpson Joke

Akiva Schaffer has opened up about a reason behind adding only one joke of O.J. Simpson, who played the role of Nordberg in the first three The Naked Gun.

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the director candidly talked about the joke in the reboot. 

Recalling when he shared his idea of filming a reboot of the movie, he said, “When I first told friends, ‘Hey, I’m actually about to write a Naked Gun,’ they’d go."

Referring to Simpson, who died from prostate cancer in 2024, Schaffer continued, “'What are you going to do about O.J?’ So, right away, I was like, ‘Oh, right. That’s the elephant in the room that has to be addressed.’”

In the movie, every cop paying a crying tribute to their late parents when the Norderg’s picture is shown, his son shakes his head, as he is not a great father figure.

“We just went, ‘Yep, that takes care of that.’ I didn’t know that the joke would kill as hard as it did at our first test screening. If I had known that, then maybe I would’ve written other jokes,” the filmmaker told the outlet.

“You want to be respectful of everything that revolves around him, so it’s not something I really took glee in. We just had to acknowledge it in a way we thought was not dancing on anybody’s misfortunes," Akiva Schaffer added before signing off.

The Naked Gun was released in cinemas on August 1, 2025.