O.J. Simpson: The Lost Confession
For over a decade after OJ Simpson was found not guilty of murdering Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman, the famous football player stayed out of the public spotlight. After moving from Los Angeles to a Florida suburb, Simpson spent his days playing golf while living off his NFL pensions, and it appeared that the public outside of his local area would never have to hear of the Juice ever again.
That all changed in November 2006, when Fox announced it would be airing an exclusive, 2-hour interview with Simpson at the end of the month to promote his new book, If I Did It, which covered how a hypothetical scenario would have played out if Simpson had murdered his ex-wife. The announcement was met with massive controversy, with many people, including some of Simpson's former attornies, questioning why Simpson would release such a book.
Eventually, after mass public backlash, both Simpson's book and his interview were canceled. A few years after the initial cancellation, the Goldman family won the publication rights to Simpson's book in court, after which they released it under a new title: If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer. However, it seemed that Simpson's interview with Fox would never air, destined to be lost to the sands of time, that is until March of 2018, nearly twelve years after the original interview was set to air, when it was broadcast to the world under the title OJ Simpson: The Lost Confession.
During the interview, OJ detailed a hypothetical sequence of events where he went to the murder site with his friend "Charlie". Certain parts of the interview drew suspicion, including when Simpson began talking as if he and Charlie were the same person, as well as when Simpson's descriptions became too in depth and began to blur the line between theory and reality. One notable instance of the latter is when Simpson talked about disposing of the infamous black glove found at the crime scene, stating "I have no conscious memory of [removing the glove] but obviously I must have because they found the glove there."
You can watch the full interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugdTdHiVfYI
Sources:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/12/entertainment/oj-simpson-hypothetical-murder-confession-fox-special/index.html
https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-recaps/o-j-simpson-the-lost-confession-5-wtf-moments-124047/
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/nevius/article/O-J-Simpson-back-in-the-spotlight-What-s-he-2546426.php
https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/18/us/18angeles.html
That all changed in November 2006, when Fox announced it would be airing an exclusive, 2-hour interview with Simpson at the end of the month to promote his new book, If I Did It, which covered how a hypothetical scenario would have played out if Simpson had murdered his ex-wife. The announcement was met with massive controversy, with many people, including some of Simpson's former attornies, questioning why Simpson would release such a book.Eventually, after mass public backlash, both Simpson's book and his interview were canceled. A few years after the initial cancellation, the Goldman family won the publication rights to Simpson's book in court, after which they released it under a new title: If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer. However, it seemed that Simpson's interview with Fox would never air, destined to be lost to the sands of time, that is until March of 2018, nearly twelve years after the original interview was set to air, when it was broadcast to the world under the title OJ Simpson: The Lost Confession.
During the interview, OJ detailed a hypothetical sequence of events where he went to the murder site with his friend "Charlie". Certain parts of the interview drew suspicion, including when Simpson began talking as if he and Charlie were the same person, as well as when Simpson's descriptions became too in depth and began to blur the line between theory and reality. One notable instance of the latter is when Simpson talked about disposing of the infamous black glove found at the crime scene, stating "I have no conscious memory of [removing the glove] but obviously I must have because they found the glove there."
You can watch the full interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugdTdHiVfYI
Sources:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/12/entertainment/oj-simpson-hypothetical-murder-confession-fox-special/index.html
https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-recaps/o-j-simpson-the-lost-confession-5-wtf-moments-124047/
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/nevius/article/O-J-Simpson-back-in-the-spotlight-What-s-he-2546426.php
https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/18/us/18angeles.html
I find the whole book affair amusing, but rather sad at the same time. I think as the story of OJ Simpson went on, beginning to drag, it became clear that OJ was not a happy man, and that he was unable to fully move on past the trial, consumed by the process that continued to ruin his fame, his wealth, and thus what he saw as the only important trappings of his life. At one point, he even begins to posit his guilt as a hypothetical: what IF I did do it? What then? Because really, his life can't get much worse, in his mind, as so many people already presume his guilt. He's already so widely scorned that it's only another mark on his blackened character. Kind of funny, kind of pathetic.
ReplyDeleteI think this book further demonstrates OJ's need for attention- perhaps the same desire that initially drove him to become such an outstanding football player and then to murder his ex-wife. OJ had always wanted to be famous, and, in his career, that clearly served as motivation for him to be the best at what he was doing; he wanted to be liked. However, once he was past what some might consider the peak of his career, he still wanted attention. OJ was used to getting what he wanted, and he had never had to face rejection before, so feeling like Nicole was rejecting him could have caused him to do what he had done his whole life: whatever would be necessary to get what he wanted. But, this time, he wanted something that was out of his control, rather than wanting to break a football record.
ReplyDeleteIn the interview, OJ recalls the incident where police were called after he abused Nicole on New Years Eve of 1989. He claims he is sorry and-after clarifying multiple times that he "didn't start it"-states that he makes no excuses about the way he reacted. He was sentenced to community service after the events of that night. Christopher Darden explains the situation at the Simpsons' house, to which police were called on multiple occasions, stating that "no police officer was really interested in arresting OJ Simpson." OJ, despite his unacceptable actions such as his abuse towards Nicole, knew that he was not going to face consequences. He could get attention he wanted so badly regardless of how extreme his actions would be to get there, and it is clear to understand how this sense of entitlement could escalate from abuse, for which he never actually faced harsh repercussions, to murder. Moreover, OJ got more attention without penalty for the murders, showing once again how powerful and above the law he was. Once the attention from that began to fade, another way he saw he could get attention (obviously, without consequences to him) was by publishing a book that would provocatively bring his most shocking attention-seeking act to light once again, only enabling him to achieve whatever he wanted once more.