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Outcry as O.J. Simpson's book goes on eBay
Last updated at 13:22pm on 24.11.06
Online auction site eBay is under fire for selling copies of O.J. Simpson's hypothetical story of how he would have killed ex-wife Nicole Brown.
Publisher Harper Collins cancelled next week's release after a public outcry and said all copies would be destroyed, but two copies are currently on eBay. Offers are currently reaching $222,000.
O.J. Simpson recently admitted he participated in the ill-fated "If I Did It" book and interview project for one reason - personal profit, acknowledging that any financial gain was "blood money".
"This was an opportunity for my kids to get their financial legacy," Simpson said in interviews this week after the book deal was abandoned by its publisher.
Video...Hear O.J deny the murder of his ex-wife
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"My kids understand. I made it clear that it's blood money, but it's no different than any of the other writers who did books on this case," Simpson said.
The book, said to describe how he theoretically would have committed the murders of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman, had been scheduled for release on November 30 following the airing of a two-part Simpson interview on Fox on Monday and Wednesday.
Owners of Fox Broadcasting and publisher Harper Collins, cancelled the project after a public outcry and objections by advertisers and booksellers.
In a radio interview on Wednesday, Simpson said the project was not a confession to the slayings.
"I made it clear from the first day I met the writer that I wasn't involved," Simpson said in a telephone interview broadcast on Miami's WTPS-AM, adding, "I said, 'I have nothing to confess.'"
Goldman's family, meanwhile, asked News Corporation to turn over its rights to the now-cancelled book and interview, an attorney said Wednesday.
In two AP telephone interviews this week from his Florida home, Simpson declined to say how much of an advance he received for the book but said it was less than the 3.5 million US dollars that has been reported.
He said the money has already been spent, including some he used to meet his tax obligations.
Simpson said he was convinced the book would have been a best-seller.
"My kids would have been coming into a lot of money," he said, adding he desperately needs the cash because his retirement funds are dwindling.
Prepublication sales for "If I Did It," had been strong but not sensational.
It cracked the top 20 of bookseller Web site Amazon.com last weekend but had fallen to No. 51 by the time the cancellation was announced.
Publisher Judith Regan has portrayed the book as representing "O.J.'s confession," and it reportedly contains a chapter where he explains how he could have committed the killings.
But the former football star says he did not commit the murders. He said the book was ghostwritten.
"When I saw what he wrote, I said, 'Maybe you did it because they're saying the chapter contains things only the killer would know.' Simpson said. "I don't know these things," he added.
Simpson said on Wednesday he never spoke to Regan until taping the TV interview.
"In the course of the interview I said, 'This is blood money and I hope nobody reads it,"' Simpson told the AP.
He added, "Everybody who has written a book about this has taken blood money; you can't have selective morality."
Simpson said he was disappointed by Regan's 'confession' statement, although he noted, "I thought, 'This lady probably thinks I did it and I didn't.'"
Simpson insisted he did not try to peddle the book to anyone, saying 'a guy' he would not identify brought the proposal to one of his family members.
Simpson said he told a representative of the publisher he would not allow the book's publication if it contained any graphic descriptions of "cutting or stabbing."
Asked how he felt about the effect the book would have on the victims' families, Simpson expressed bitterness toward Goldman's father, Fred, who has denounced Simpson as a liar and murderer.
Simpson was acquitted of murder in 1995 but was later found liable for the killings in a wrongful-death suit filed by the Goldman family.
Simpson has failed to pay the 33.5 million US dollars judgment against him in that case, and his pensions and his Florida home cannot be seized.
He said Fred Goldman has helped drain his finances with "frivolous lawsuits," including one he brought recently attempting to deprive Simpson of the commercial rights to his name.
Although Simpson prevailed in court he said he spent 17 thousand US dollars in legal fees.
Fred Goldman's attorney, Jonathan G. Polak, said Goldman wants the rights to the material to ensure that all copies are destroyed and that News Corporation does not sell the rights to "some sleazy" cable pay-per-view operation or video site.
After Murdoch cancelled the book and interview, News Corp. subsidiary Harper Collins said all copies of the book will be destroyed.
Polak acknowledged that it was likely that copies of the book or portions of the interview would be leaked and appear in other media.
But he said owning the rights might allow him to go to court and ensure any money from the projects goes to the families of the victims.
A call to a News Corp. seeking comment was not returned.
Simpson, 59, said his NFL pension pays only one thousand, seven US dollars a month and the private pension he amassed during the days when he was a TV pitchman and sports commentator is being halved next month because he's had to dip into the principal.
Although he knew the project would bring an avalanche of negative publicity, Simpson said he was willing to face it "if that's what it took."
"You guys are going to dog me no matter what," he told a reporter.
Despite his financial troubles, Simpson indicated he was not entirely unhappy the project was abandoned.
"I feel like a man who's had the weight of the world taken off me," he said.
Reader views (2)
Here's a sample of the latest views published. You can click view all to read all views that readers have sent in.
...I definitely would not liken this in any way to "Passion of the Christ".
- Raul Romea, Norman, OK
Who really has prevented this book from being distributed? It has been published; it is in print; it's in warehouses; it was ranked "Number 25 in Sales" by Amazon. com before the axe fell. The OJ interview would have, undoubtedly, catapulted Viewer Ratings through the roof. The controversy over OJ's guilt or innocence is all smoke and mirrors obfuscating a more insidious issue at play here. It is this: Fahrenheit 451 is alive and well, as is the Index Liborum Prohibitorum. Where are the freedoms we so loudly proclaim to the world that we possess? I don't like people telling me what to read and what not to read. Release of this book would have forced us to take a look at ourselves, how we ourselves allowed a possible mockery of our judicial system, and the part that racism played in acquitting OJ. I don't want to have to judge someone by saying, "I just know he did it." I want to hear the confession, if a confession is in order, from the horse's mouth myself. As offensive as this book may be to some, this sounded like a sure-fire money maker to me. That's why I personally believe that someone, in authority, other than the profiteers, put the kibosh on the release of this book for another agenda. I now wonder why no one paid any attention to the Jews when they expressed these identical concerns being given now by the OJ Lynch Mob, when "Passion of the Christ" was about to be aired. Is there a Double Standard?
- Steve Savage , New Jersey Shore, USA
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