If I Did It, Here's How It Happened

Seattle Times
November 15, 2006

In what could well be the sleaziest, and certainly the strangest, documentary in the history of television, O.J. Simpson has agreed to a Fox TV interview in which he will discuss how he murdered Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman 12 years ago — if, that is, he had actually murdered them.

Done rubbing your eyes?

Good, because there's more. Simpson will be interviewed by Judith Regan, the founder and chief executive of ReganBooks, which will publish Simpson's "If I Did It" on Nov. 30. ReganBooks is an imprint of HarperCollins, owned by News Corp., parent of Fox.

The interview — "O.J. Simpson: If I Did It Here's How It Happened" — will air Nov. 27 and 29, just before the book goes on sale.

"This is an interview that no one thought would ever happen," said Mike Darnell, Fox chief of reality programs.

Simpson was paid a reported $3.5 million for the book, according to the National Enquirer, which first reported its existence last month.

Not much is known about the book or the interview; ReganBooks hasn't yet posted a description on its Web site, although the Enquirer piece noted that Simpson's account of the murders is "so detailed and so chillingly realistic" readers will likely come to the conclusion that Simpson committed the crimes.

Simpson was acquitted in 1995 after the criminal trial but later found liable for the deaths in a civil trial and ordered to pay $33.5 million to the victims' families.