Post by Confused Mark Wahlberg on Nov 20, 2006 21:22:44 GMT -5
Didn't see this posted:
O.J. Simpson Book, TV Special Canceled by News Corp. (Update4)
By Cecile Daurat
Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) -- O.J. Simpson's new book and television special were canceled by News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, who apologized for a project he said was ``ill- considered.''
``If I Did It,'' in which Simpson described how he would have murdered his wife and her friend Ronald L. Goldman, was to be released by Judith Regan, a publisher at News Corp.'s HarperCollins unit, on Nov. 30. Regan was scheduled to interview Simpson over two nights on Nov. 27 and Nov. 29 on Fox television.
``I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project,'' Murdoch said today in an e-mailed statement.
The cancellation comes after as many as a dozen Fox affiliate stations refused to air the show, which was scheduled to run during so-called sweeps, the period when Nielsen Media Research collects viewer data used to set local TV advertising rates. ReganBooks paid Simpson an advance of $3.5 million, according to Newsweek magazine.
Books that have already been printed will be destroyed, said News Corp. spokesman Andrew Butcher. He said he didn't know how many copies of ``If I Did It'' had been produced and declined to comment on the advance to Simpson.
Simpson, 59, was acquitted in the 1994 killings of his wife Nicole Brown-Simpson and Goldman in a criminal court. He lost a civil case and was ordered to pay $33.5 million. Family members of Goldman and Brown-Simpson spoke out against the book and TV show when they were announced earlier this month.
`Despicable'
``We are sorry for any pain this has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown-Simpson,'' Murdoch, 75, said in the statement.
Class A shares of News Corp. fell 17 cents to $21.10 at 4:24 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They have gained 36 percent this year.
``The fact that someone is willing to publish this garbage, that Fox is willing to put it on air, is just despicable to me,'' Fred Goldman, the father of Ron Goldman, said in a Nov. 15 interview with CNN's Larry King.
Fox was to air what it called a ``wide-ranging, no-holds- barred interview'' at 9 p.m. New York time on Nov. 27 and Nov. 29. In a video clip of the interview posted on Fox's Web site before the cancellation, Simpson said, ``I don't think any two people can be killed without everybody covered in blood.''
`Right Thing'
Cancellation ``shows that there is a level beneath which the public is not willing to sink, and it's good news,'' said Paul Levinson, chairman of the communications department at Fordham University in New York. ``Rupert Murdoch did the right thing and deserves credit on this.''
Regan said last week she published the book to help people like herself who had suffered from domestic violence. She said she thought the proceeds would go to Simpson's children.
In his interview with Larry King, Goldman said his family wouldn't get any money from the book ``unless we go for it.''
Book retailers including Barnes & Noble Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. were taking orders for ``If I Did It'' online before the cancellation was announced today.
Barnes & Noble is ``in the process of taking the title off our Web site and alerting individual stores to do the same,'' said Mary Ellen Keating, a spokeswoman for the New York-based retailer.
O.J. Simpson Book, TV Special Canceled by News Corp. (Update4)
By Cecile Daurat
Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) -- O.J. Simpson's new book and television special were canceled by News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, who apologized for a project he said was ``ill- considered.''
``If I Did It,'' in which Simpson described how he would have murdered his wife and her friend Ronald L. Goldman, was to be released by Judith Regan, a publisher at News Corp.'s HarperCollins unit, on Nov. 30. Regan was scheduled to interview Simpson over two nights on Nov. 27 and Nov. 29 on Fox television.
``I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project,'' Murdoch said today in an e-mailed statement.
The cancellation comes after as many as a dozen Fox affiliate stations refused to air the show, which was scheduled to run during so-called sweeps, the period when Nielsen Media Research collects viewer data used to set local TV advertising rates. ReganBooks paid Simpson an advance of $3.5 million, according to Newsweek magazine.
Books that have already been printed will be destroyed, said News Corp. spokesman Andrew Butcher. He said he didn't know how many copies of ``If I Did It'' had been produced and declined to comment on the advance to Simpson.
Simpson, 59, was acquitted in the 1994 killings of his wife Nicole Brown-Simpson and Goldman in a criminal court. He lost a civil case and was ordered to pay $33.5 million. Family members of Goldman and Brown-Simpson spoke out against the book and TV show when they were announced earlier this month.
`Despicable'
``We are sorry for any pain this has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown-Simpson,'' Murdoch, 75, said in the statement.
Class A shares of News Corp. fell 17 cents to $21.10 at 4:24 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They have gained 36 percent this year.
``The fact that someone is willing to publish this garbage, that Fox is willing to put it on air, is just despicable to me,'' Fred Goldman, the father of Ron Goldman, said in a Nov. 15 interview with CNN's Larry King.
Fox was to air what it called a ``wide-ranging, no-holds- barred interview'' at 9 p.m. New York time on Nov. 27 and Nov. 29. In a video clip of the interview posted on Fox's Web site before the cancellation, Simpson said, ``I don't think any two people can be killed without everybody covered in blood.''
`Right Thing'
Cancellation ``shows that there is a level beneath which the public is not willing to sink, and it's good news,'' said Paul Levinson, chairman of the communications department at Fordham University in New York. ``Rupert Murdoch did the right thing and deserves credit on this.''
Regan said last week she published the book to help people like herself who had suffered from domestic violence. She said she thought the proceeds would go to Simpson's children.
In his interview with Larry King, Goldman said his family wouldn't get any money from the book ``unless we go for it.''
Book retailers including Barnes & Noble Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. were taking orders for ``If I Did It'' online before the cancellation was announced today.
Barnes & Noble is ``in the process of taking the title off our Web site and alerting individual stores to do the same,'' said Mary Ellen Keating, a spokeswoman for the New York-based retailer.
