Simpson says he knew "If I Did It" profits would be "blood money"

LOS ANGELES – O.J. Simpson told The Associated Press he did the controversial "If I Did It" book for only one reason — personal profit — acknowledging that any financial gain was "blood money."

"This was an opportunity for my kids to get their financial legacy," Simpson said in interviews after the book deal was abandoned by its publisher. "My kids understand. I made it clear that it's blood money, but it's no different than any of the other writers who did books on this case."

The book, said to describe how he theoretically would have committed the murders of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman, had been scheduled for release Nov. 30 following the airing of a two-part Simpson interview on Fox on Monday and Wednesday.

News Corp., owner of Fox Broadcasting and publisher HarperCollins, canceled the project after a public outcry and objections by advertisers and booksellers.

Earlier today, Simpson said in a radio interview in Miami that his ill-fated book and TV project was not a confession to the slayings of his ex-wife and her friend, and the title — "If I Did It" — wasn't his idea.

The family of victim Ronald Goldman, meanwhile, asked News Corp. to turn over its rights to the now-canceled book and interview, an attorney said Wednesday.

"I made it clear from the first day I met the writer that I wasn't involved," Simpson said in a telephone interview broadcast on WTPS-AM radio. "I said, 'I have nothing to confess."'

Simpson, who lives in the Miami suburbs, also said the reported advance payment figure of $3.5 million was inaccurate. Although he would not specify how much he was paid, he did say it was a "windfall" that would go mainly to pay bills and support his children.

"Would everybody stop being so naive? Of course I got paid," Simpson said with a laugh. "I spend the money on my bills. It's gone."

Simpson's interview came two days after News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch canceled the book and two-part TV interview that had been scheduled to air Nov. 27 and Nov. 29 on the company's Fox network. All copies of the book will be destroyed, officials with publisher HarperCollins have said.

The cancellation came amid an intensely negative nationwide reaction to what was being billed as a thinly veiled confession by Simpson to the 1994 murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Goldman. Simpson was acquitted in 1995 but was later found liable for the deaths in a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the Goldman family.

In the radio interview, the former football star was asked point-blank if he killed the pair.

"Absolutely not, and I maintained my innocence from day one," he replied, adding a little later: "No matter what everybody wants to say, I didn't do it."

As for the "If I Did It" title, he added: "That was their title. That's what they came up with. I didn't pitch anything. I don't make book deals."

Simpson also accused the Goldman family — which won a $33.5 million civil wrongful death judgment against him — of "opening up those old wounds" on frequent TV appearances.

"It happens every month to me. Everybody's calling me names," Simpson said.

Simpson said he was approached about the project, which he viewed as fiction but also as an opportunity to describe more fully his life with Nicole, their post-divorce relationship and other personal details.

The book's publisher, Judith Regan, said last week that Simpson's people had approached her about the project.

Simpson said what he labeled "the incident" is covered in about half a chapter and involves a fictional character named "Charlie." He said details about the killings were purely the creation of the writer.

"If the prosecution read it, they would say 'well, this is impossible,"' Simpson said.

A Goldman attorney, meanwhile, said Goldman's father, Fred, wants the rights to the material to ensure that all copies are destroyed and that News Corp. doesn't sell the rights to "some sleazy cable pay-per-view operation or video site."

"Our position has always been that this is a book that should never be published, and it is an interview that should never be aired," said Jonathan G. Polak, an Indianapolis attorney.

A call to a News Corp. seeking comment was not immediately returned. Polak was seeking a response by Wednesday.

After Murdoch canceled the book and interview, News Corp. subsidary HarperCollins said all copies of the book will be destroyed.

Polak acknowledged that it was likely that copies of the book or portions of the interview would be leaked and appear in other media. But he said owning the rights might allow him to go to court and ensure any money from the projects goes to the families of the victims.

The company "still has considerable work to do to prevent others from profiting off of murder," the attorney's letter to News Corp. said.