'Between a Rock and a Hard Place': O.J. Book Battle Rages On
Take a look Inside bizarre battle over O.J. Simpson's fictional confession.
May 4, 2007 — -- Strange bedfellows indeed.
Denise Brown is putting the publishing world on notice that whoever buys the rights to O.J. Simpson's fictional confession, "If I Did It," can expect a public backlash - from domestic violence victims and others who believe publishing the book would be an outrage.
"This book is a manual for murder," Brown told ABC News' Law & Justice Unit. "We can't afford in our country for this to happen again. Look at [last month's] Virginia Tech [shootings]. There's so much stuff going on in our society - we can't have a manual out there in black and white."
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It's the same warning that Fred Goldman sounded last fall, when news of the book and two part Fox television interview first surfaced. And he was right - Harper Collins pulled the book and canceled the special in the wake of public disgust.
But now it's Goldman who's trying to sell the book rights, and Simpson who is trying to stop the sale.
And Brown has found herself in the unlikely position of landing on the same legal side as Simpson, as both try to stop Goldman from selling the book rights, a position she describes as like being "between a rock and a hard place.''
Her father, Louis, is the executor of Nicole Brown Simpson's estate, which represents the interests of Simpson's children Justin and Sidney.
She told ABC News it was frustrating that she was the only one in this puzzling legal triangle whose position on the book had remained consistent."Goldman's switched his tune. Simpson's changed his tune," Brown told ABC News' Law & Justice Unit. "We have not."
Brown, who travels the country advocating for domestic violence victims, said she knew her time was better spent on that work than going to court every time Simpson turned up in the news, but she said she had an obligation to protect the rights of Simpson's children.
"We are not going to be the ones to go out and pursue these [legal actions]," she said, "but if the Goldmans do something, we have to react, because we have to protect the interests of Sidney and Justin."
"These kids mean a hell of a lot to me," she said. "Every time I go out and speak, one of the questions I always get is, 'How are the kids doing?'"
Sidney is in college in Boston and Justin goes to school in Tallahassee, Fla., Brown said.
"The whole country is concerned about these kids. Growing up and having a father the whole world believes murdered their mother and Ron Goldman … is very difficult."
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