Pulling the Plug on O.J.

Nov. 21, 2006 — -- The O.J. Simpson project entitled "If I Did It" is done. The interview won't air. The book won't hit store shelves.

The book was a strange, morbid work of historical fiction in which Simpson described how he would have murdered Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman had he been the killer.

It was not a confession, but a hypothetical tell-all.

Fox Broadcasting, the sister company of Simpson's publisher, Harper Collins, was set to broadcast a two-hour interview featuring Simpson.

The combination of primetime television hours and a presumably chart-topping book would have made millions for parent company News Corp. and Simpson.

A clip of the canceled interview quotes Simpson in the book saying, "I have never seen so much blood in my life."

The interview was set to run next week during November sweeps, the period when networks try to capture their highest ratings, which set rates for advertisers. The book was scheduled to come out Nov. 30.

But then, in the face of intense public backlash against the project, the man behind the deal called the whole thing off.

In a statement on Monday, News Corp. chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch said, "I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project."

Murdoch also conveyed his apologies for the project's emotional fallout.

"We are sorry for any pain this has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson."

Simpson was given an advance for the project. Although the exact amount had not been made public, early reports said the entire book deal was worth $3.5 million.

Simpson won't be keeping a dime of it if the Goldman family has its way. When asked whether he'd be heading to court in an attempt to get some of Simpson's earnings from the projects, Fred Goldman, the father of murder victim Ron Goldman, said, "Oh yeah, absolutely."

According to a 1997 civil lawsuit decision, Simpson owes $33.5 million for the wrongful deaths of Goldman and Brown Simpson.