News Corp’s Rupert Murdoch, a media king with a famous taste for scandal, couldn’t stand it anymore. On Monday, he canceled the TV special and novel featuring O.J. Simpson in “If I did It,” less than a week after it was announced.
“I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project,” Murdoch said. “We are sorry for any pain that this has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson.”
“If I Did It” had been scheduled to air as a two-part interview Nov. 27 and Nov. 29 on Fox, with the book to follow on Nov. 30. HarperCollins spokeswoman Erin Crum said some copies had already been shipped to stores but would be recalled, and all copies would be destroyed.
Simpson’s attorney, Yale Galanter, told The Associated Press: “We had known for three or four days that this was a possibility.”
“There are only three possible reactions: anger, happiness or indifference. He’s totally indifferent about the fact that it’s been canceled,” Galanter said.
He said he didn’t know if Simpson was paid upfront.
Denise Brown told NBC’s “Today” show Tuesday that her family’s response was “Absolutely not.”
“They wanted to offer us millions of dollars. Millions of dollars for, like, ‘Oh, I’m sorry’ money. But they were still going to air the show,” Brown said. “We just thought, ‘oh my god.’ What they’re trying to do is trying to keep us quiet, trying to make this like hush money, trying to go around the civil verdict, giving us this money to keep our mouths shut.”
