Nicole Brown's sister slams O.J. Simpson's tribute at BET Awards - “It’s inappropriate to give an abuser and murderer recognition”

O.J. Simpson may be dead for almost three months, but his shadow still looms over society. That was most apparent at the recently-concluded BET awards, which had a tribute to the Hall of Fame running back-turned-suspected killer of his wife Nicole Brown, and friend Ron Goldman.

The tribute was met with condemnation by many, but none have been stronger than from Brown's sister Tanya who told TMZ:

"It's inappropriate to give an abuser and murderer recognition. Whoever thought of doing that owes every domestic violence victim an apology…and that’s including our family. And, they should be fired."

Goldman's father Fred also addressed the matter, calling the tribute a "slap in the face" to him and his fellow mourners:

"I think they shouldn't include anyone of that caliber -- a wife beater, murderer … can't imagine why they would include someone like that."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, there was palpable silence during Simpson's tribute - a far cry from the applause other deceased personalities received.

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Nicole Brown's sisters recall O.J. Simpson's wife hiding domestic violence she suffered at his hands

If Nicole Brown's sisters are to be asked, O.J. Simpson loved humiliating and assaulting her whenever she greeted a male friend, as they recounted to PEOPLE.

But she would not decide that enough was enough until 1992, two years before she died. Dominique recalled in an interview with the Associated Press last month:

“Nicole was a very, very good hider of her domestic violence. She pushed everything under the rug and then would change the subject. And I think that was just all to protect herself and to protect everyone that she loved and her family.”

Meanwhile, Denise remembered not thinking that Brown was a battered woman, even after Simpson had been charged with assault on New Year's Eve 1989, which caused her to spend a week away from him:

“She said, ‘I don’t want to ruin my children’s father’s life.’”

Brown would eventually file for divorce and get it, but Simpson's obsessiveness over her continued. She called a helpline five days before she was killed, and the aftermath of the case put domestic violence in the national spotlight for the first time.

Shortly after her death, current US President Joe Biden (at the time a Senator) met Denise Brown to lobby support for what would become the Violence Against Women Act.