"I consider this his confession," says publisher Judith Regan of O.J. Simpson's If I Did It book, where he talks about what would have happened had he actually been the killer of Nicole Brown Simpson and friend Ron Goldman.
Tearful, two-part TV interview on Fox - part of the same happy media family as ReganBooks - to follow, prompting Harry Shearer to write: "It's a breathtaking use of the past subjunctive by a network that normally can barely manage the present tense."
eCache in South Jersey observes, "The bottom of the pit dropped today."
BunkerBlaster commenting at TV Spy's Watercooler: "Certainly thoughtful for his kids, who were probably the LAST people in American who still believed O.J. DIDN'T murder their mom. Thoughtful too for all African Americans around the country who wanted to believe his not guilty verdict was a just one, and now he's just laughing at them too.."guess I fooled you"...only not really. There is no one in America who doesn't know the truth now. One of the saddest chapters in our history now becomes even sadder and cheaper, if that's possible."
Howard Burns in the Hollywood Reporter: "If I'm reading this right, the man who has consistently tried to distance himself from the killings -- the man who was acquitted of the crimes in a court of law -- is now intending to give a tutorial on how he would have committed the murders if he actually was the perpetrator. Normally it's the ex-jock or ex-coach who provides the color commentary on sportscasts, presumably because of their experiences in the game. If Simpson is going to give us his own anatomy of two murders, from where is he drawing his experiences? An old 'Columbo' episode, perhaps?"
Captain's Quarters recalls living through the OJ circus in Los Angeles back in 1994. He is not relishing that so many people will soon be eating their words. Capt. Ed writes, "Undoubtedly Fox and Regan will attract a huge audience, but it won't include me. They can relive the OJ embarrassment, hauling out Geraldo, Greta, and all of their talking heads to dissect the case yet again, but thinking people should refuse to contribute any more to the celebrity of a double murderer. Hopefully, Harper Collins will rethink its relationship to ReganBooks in the same manner that readers will also do."
Or, as one commenter on The Moderate Voice put it: "My own book will be called "As If I Watched It."
Jon Swift's take: "Some cynical people will probably say Regan and Fox are doing it for the money. They will say that standards in corporate America have slipped so low that they will do anything to make a quick buck and are banking on the idea that most Americans have lost their moral compass, too. Of course, conservatives believe there is nothing wrong with making money, even if a few peoples' feelings are hurt in the process, but I don't think greed is Regan's and Fox's primary motivation. If making money were their only objective Regan would never have gone into a money-losing business like publishing and Fox would never have broadcast such series as The Swan or Playing It Straight or canceled Firefly, Arrested Development or The Family Guy. I think their actual goal is to teach the American people a valuable lesson, one that is more important than ever, which is that you can't always believe what you read or see on television."
Former network exec Bob Benson, calling it "a disgusting nexus of media and real life," suggests a "boycott."
