Rupert Bites the Bullet on O.J.

I was tempted over the past few days to comment on the whole O.J. Simpson book and TV show controversy, but I chose not to, for several reasons. There didn't seem to be anything to say about it that a lot of other people weren't already saying, for one thing. I mean, once you've gotten past I can't believe anyone would do anything quite this scummy to make a buck and then you stop yourself and say, Oh yeah, I forgot -- it's Fox and Judith Regan, what else was there to say?

But now the story has taken a new turn. It's being reported in the press (I found the story on Forbes.com) that Rupert Murdoch himself has pulled the plug on the book and the TV show where O.J. Simpson, found not guilty in a criminal trial but found liable by a jury in a civil trial for the murders of his former wife and Ron Goldman, would tell the world how he might have killed the two victims if he in fact was the murderer. You know, hypothetically speaking, of course.

Given the large advance that Simpson reportedly received for the book and TV interview (which was supposedly going to go to his children and not himself, thus avoiding the civil judgment), this is a lot of money for Rupert Murdoch to be eating on principle -- but then we know that Murdoch doesn't have any principles except money. So why is he caving now?

“I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project. We are sorry for any pain this has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown-Simpson,” News Corp. Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch said in a statement released earlier today," reports Lacey Rose of Forbes.com.

And it never occurred to any of these bozos beforehand that this project might cause pain to the families of the victims? Who do they think they're kidding?

Murdoch caved in to pressure from within his own ranks -- the mutiny of people like Bill O'Reilly and Geraldo Rivera, who to their credit pointed out that this entire enterprise was nauseating and immoral. It also helped that Fox affiliates were threatening not to broadcast the O.J. special, and you can bet that sponsors weren't exactly lining up to have their commercials on the show either -- especially after O'Reilly threatened to boycott any product advertised on it.

In other words, Rupert Murdoch didn't get morality or ethics all of a sudden, and he doesn't give a shit about the pain he might have caused the families of the victims. He pulled the plug on the project because it was bad for business -- or perhaps it made it a little too clear what a scummy little enterprise Fox really is.

At any rate, the show is over -- for now. But expect advance copies and galleys of the book to turn up on eBay, fetching exorbitant prices. And I wouldn't be at all surprised if we see this project end up at another company -- which might help Murdoch recoup his losses.

He is a businessman, after all.

Tom Moran