I don't plan on writing much more about the O.J. Simpson book and TV interviews but I thought I ought to link to this. It's the article Judith Regan, the publisher-producer of this spectacle, wrote about why she did it. I'm afraid I don't buy the suggestion that her own past victimhood justifies anything or is even relevant to what she does now.
I'm also skeptical about the part where she says that she didn't pay Simpson; that she contracted through a third party and was told the money would go to his children. The dollar figure involved would have to be substantial. (If it wasn't, she would have said that in order to deflect criticism.) The amount has been rumored as 3.5 million but let's say it's only a third of that. You don't pay a million dollars for anything without making sure the money is going to buy you what you want, which in this case would mean that Simpson — the guy whose services you're buying — agrees that it's compensation.
Here's what I wonder. I wonder if there's any substantial number of people in this country who really believe Simpson didn't commit the murders. A poll in 2004 found that 77% of us thought he was guilty, but I've always suspected that some people said he was innocent simply because their distrust of police (the Los Angeles ones, in particular) was greater or more relevant to their lives than any suspicion of O.J. Simpson. I'll bet it's more like 85% that thinks he did it…and the 15% includes folks who didn't follow the trial and/or are the kind of person who's naturally drawn to the unpopular opinion in any controversy. I have one friend who, if you told him 98% of America believes something, would immediately throw in with the 2%…before he even heard what the topic was. How many of those who think he didn't do it are in that category?