ENTERTAINMENT / Television
Fox TV plans to air O.J. Simpson special
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-11-16 14:09
Former NFL star and actor O.J. Simpson seen in Los Angeles in this April
6, 2005 file photo.
The Fox television network says it plans to air an O.J. Simpson interview
this month in which he describes, hypothetically, how he would have
killed his ex-wife and her friend 12 years ago if he had committed the
crime.
The taped interview was conducted by Judith Regan, whose publishing
label, ReganBooks, plans to release a book written by Simpson, titled "If
I Did It," that also contains his hypothetical account of the double
slaying, the network said in a statement on Tuesday.
News of the book raised eyebrows in the publishing community, where some
questioned whether it went too far in exploiting a tragedy.
Denise Brown, the sister of victim Nicole Brown Simpson, said in a
statement, "It's unfortunate that Simpson has decided to awaken a
nightmare that we have painfully endured and worked so hard to move
beyond."
ReganBooks is an imprint of HarperCollins, which, like Fox, is a unit of
News Corp. Ltd.
A California jury in 1995 found the former football star not guilty of
murder in the June 1994 stabbing deaths of his former wife and her friend
Ron Goldman. A civil court jury in February 1997 found Simpson liable for
the deaths and ordered him to pay $33.5 million in damages to the
families of the victims.
It was not clear how Simpson might gain financially from his book deal or
Fox interview. Lawyers for Goldman's parents have said they would attempt
to garnish any of Simpson's future earnings to satisfy the judgment
against him, which Simpson has vowed never to pay.
In an interview on CNN's "Larry King Live" on Wednesday, Goldman's
father, Fred Goldman, advised viewers, "Don't watch the show, don't buy
the book, send a message loud and clear."
According to Fox, Simpson agreed to an unrestricted interview with Regan,
in which he "describes how he would have carried out the murders he has
vehemently denied committing for over a decade."
It was left unclear whether Simpson's on-camera account of the killings
is delivered in response to questions put to him by Regan or while
reading passages from his book.
In a brief promotional clip from the interview posted on Fox's Web site,
Simpson says, "I don't think any two people could be murdered without
everybody being covered in blood."
'DEFINITIVE LAST CHAPTER'
He is also seen setting aside a copy of a book he is reading from --
presumably his own -- and saying, "I can't do no more of this."
Fox executive Mike Darnell touted the interview in a network statement
announcing the special as "the definitive last chapter in the trial of
the century."
Denise Brown, an advocate against domestic violence, chided Regan for
"promoting the wrongdoing of criminals and leveraging this forum and the
actions of Simpson to commercialize abuse."
Simpson proclaimed his innocence in his last book, "I Want To Tell You,"
published in February 1995 in response to some 300,000 pieces of mail he
received while in jail.
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