OJ Simpson book, TV deal cancelled

LOS ANGELES – Facing a firestorm of criticism, media tycoon Rupert Murdoch on Monday scrapped a new book and TV interview in which OJ Simpson offered a hypothetical account of how he would have killed his ex-wife and her friend.

In a dramatic reversal days after his news corporation announced plans for the book and a Fox television special, Murdoch, the News Corporation chairman, said in a statement he decided “this was an ill-considered project” and apologised for any harm caused. The book, titled ‘If I Did It’ and originally due to go on sale on November 30, was touted as a first-hand account by the former football star picturing himself at the scene of the 1994 murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.Announcement of the book deal and TV special last Tuesday sparked a torrent of outrage from members of the publishing community, as well as media commentators and relatives of the murder victims, who accused Murdoch’s media empire of seeking to cash in on tragedy.”We are very sorry for any pain this has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson,” Murdoch wrote in his statement.The book was to have been preceded November 27 and 29 by a two-part, prime-time Fox television interview of Simpson conducted by his publisher, Judith Regan, whose HarperCollins imprint, like Fox, is a unit of news corporation.Fox said the taped interview featured Simpson, who has always maintained his innocence, describing hypothetically how he would have carried out the slayings had he been the one who committed the crime.”I’m going to tell you a story you’ve never heard before, because no one knows this story the way I know it,” Simpson wrote in press materials for the book.A Fox network spokesman said there would be no further comment from the media company.Nampa-ReutersThe book, titled ‘If I Did It’ and originally due to go on sale on November 30, was touted as a first-hand account by the former football star picturing himself at the scene of the 1994 murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.Announcement of the book deal and TV special last Tuesday sparked a torrent of outrage from members of the publishing community, as well as media commentators and relatives of the murder victims, who accused Murdoch’s media empire of seeking to cash in on tragedy.”We are very sorry for any pain this has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson,” Murdoch wrote in his statement.The book was to have been preceded November 27 and 29 by a two-part, prime-time Fox television interview of Simpson conducted by his publisher, Judith Regan, whose HarperCollins imprint, like Fox, is a unit of news corporation.Fox said the taped interview featured Simpson, who has always maintained his innocence, describing hypothetically how he would have carried out the slayings had he been the one who committed the crime.”I’m going to tell you a story you’ve never heard before, because no one knows this story the way I know it,” Simpson wrote in press materials for the book.A Fox network spokesman said there would be no further comment from the media company.Nampa-Reuters