Parodies of Johnnie Cochran are, in a way, just as famous as the man himself. His likeness can be found throughout popular media since the 1990s. In fact, one of these parodies even sparked an actual legal strategy.
As a result of the O.J. trial, "Seinfeld" parodied Cochran with their character of Jackie Chiles, who mirrored the mannerisms, appearance, and inflections of Cochran. His first appearance, according to Fandom, was in the episode "The Maestro," and he became one of the show's most iconic characters, even appearing in the series finale.
As for actual portrayals of Cochran, in a season two episode of "South Park," Cochran represented a record company and then the character Chef in two lawsuits. For his closing statements, instead of discussing the case, Cochran rambled about the "Star Wars" character Chewbacca, which led to his victories. The episode spawned the term "The Chewbacca Defense," which describes the tactic of using red herrings to confuse an audience or jury instead of arguing the facts. The term has been used to describe political arguments, legal defenses, debates, and many more scenarios.
In 2016, Courtney B. Vance (pictured) portrayed Cochran in the FX miniseries "The People vs. OJ Simpson: American Crime Story." Vance was awarded an Emmy for "Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie," beating out his co-star Cuba Gooding Jr., who played Simpson himself.
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