O. J. Simpson Writes a Book He’ll Discuss on Fox TV
The TV special will be on Fox during the final week of the November sweeps, the period when local network affiliates measure viewership in order to determine what rates they can charge for advertising.
O. J. Simpson has written a book and will appear on television telling “how he would have committed the murders if he were the one responsible,” his publisher and the Fox television network said on Tuesday.
Judith Regan, whose publishing imprint ReganBooks will release Mr. Simpson’s book Nov. 30, also conducted the television interviews, which will be broadcast on Fox in two one-hour segments on Nov. 27 and Nov. 29. Both ReganBooks and Fox are owned by the News Corporation.
According to a news release, the book and the TV special, which has a working title of “O.J. Simpson: If I Did It, Here’s How It Happened,” will depict Mr. Simpson describing “how he would have carried out the murders he has vehemently denied committing for over a decade.”
Mr. Simpson was acquitted of criminal charges, but a civil court found him responsible for the deaths, and ordered him to pay $33.5 million in restitution to the families. Only a part of the amount has been paid, and relatives of the victims have continued to pursue their claims.
It is not clear how much, if any, of the royalties on the sale of the book will go to the victims’ families. A Regan representative and a spokeswoman for Fox declined to comment beyond the news release.
The National Enquirer reported in October that a Simpson book was being planned, but that report was dismissed after Yale Galanter, a Florida lawyer said to be representing Mr. Simpson, told The Daily News that it was untrue. Mr. Galanter did not respond to phone calls yesterday seeking comment.
The TV special is being produced by Ms. Regan, who moved to Los Angeles from New York this year. Ms. Regan has previously produced shows for television featuring her authors, including a special with Jenna Jameson, the sex-film star and author of the book “How to Make Love Like a Porn Star,” which was also published by ReganBooks.
Fox representatives would not comment on whether it would solicit advertisers for the specials or whether it had concerns about presenting the specials in prime time. In its news release, the network quoted Mike Darnell, executive vice president for alternative programming, who said: “This is an interview that no one thought would ever happen. It’s the definitive last chapter in the trial of the century.”
At least one other network said it had passed on the chance to bid on the TV special because it thought the content was of questionable taste.
Rebecca Marks, a spokeswoman for NBC Universal Television, said the network passed because “from an advertising point of view, from a public relations point of view, everything, it was impossible.”
