If I Did It
Post two of the most famous trials to ever occur in the American legal court system, OJ Simpson, in a partnership with two other authors, Pablo Fenjives, and Dominick Dunne, wrote his hypothetical confession book titled, "If I Did It". The book was announced towards the beginning of November, for release on November 30th of 2006. It was highly anticipated and criticized by the American public, as many were not sure if it was purely hypothetical or if it truly was a confession. Unfortunately, shortly after the announcement of the release, News Corporation, along with Simpson and his lawyer, canceled the publication. This was only after 400,000 copies of the book had already been printed. All of the books were recalled, and according to News Corporation, only one was kept. This book was supposedly kept in a vault inside of News Corporation Headquarters. Within the public, the book was criticized as many saw it as an opportunity that Simpson was taking to make more money. In a quote from Sara Nelson of Publishers Weekly, she states, "This is not about being heard. This is about trying to cash in, in a pathetic way...". News Corporation came under scrutiny by their actions make it seem as if they endorsed Simpson, who had just been found guilty in the civil trial, awarding $33.5 million to the victim's families. Not only was the book of Simpson's "hypothetical" confessions canceled, but an interview with Simpson and Fox News that was meant to air shortly after the book came out was also canceled. This interview was shown later in March of 2018. Even though the book was canceled, a writer from Vanity Fair obtained a hard copy, and printed a review in January of 2007, and a book appeared on eBay in September of 2007, which sold for $250,000. The book was eventually sold, and all profits went to the Goldman's Foundation for finding justice.
I think that the publication of this book is ironic. It's ironic in the sense that, to many of us it's apparent that O.J. Simpson did commit the crime and chooses to write about it. I think that it's a perfect example on how the case was influenced by O.J.'s fame. Not only was this book not taken seriously but it was created for money, which O.J. knew that he would get as the case and himself were so publicized. Another example of making money in jail was when O.J. would sign and autograph things from jail and sell it. All a perfect example on how this celebrity was put on a pedestal, that many people didn't care that he had committed this crime and still choose to see him as the glorious man he once was.
ReplyDeleteThis is an issue that people still see today as celebrities are not given the proper punishment for their actions. This was recently seen in the big company we know as Google. A man was recently accused of sexual misconduct and was let off with a warning, he along with other decided it was best if he left Google, but not without a hefty settlement and a high paying job at another company waiting for him. This case is slightly different but if taken back to the basics there are many similarities. O.J. and this man both did something unacceptable and both continued to earn money through it without a major consequence.
I understand that the title was changed, but the content was left untouched. OJ was basically releasing the same thing into the world, just without an "If." And, if I were OJ and really wanted to make good money off of it, I'd go around to every interviewer that would take me and talk about how the "if" was basically taken out of the title. I'd like to think that it'd be a lot harder to stop OJ from publishing his book now a days, with the internet and all, but I think it would work out just the same. It is hard to keep these big companies accountable. And it makes sense that Fox news didn't have OJ on their show, because who wants the guy who DIDN'T publish a book?
ReplyDeleteOJ Simpson wrote the book in order to make some money due to the fact that he was millions of dollars in debt on paper. I do not hate the fact that he could sign autographs in jail during his trial because in America you are innocent until proven guilty. It is one thing is he was signing autographs in prison... Which he would be a convicted felon. Also, I think publishing the book If I did it was a good move for the Goldman's definetely not OJ. OJ looked like an idiot in the title and he got none of the money from the book which defeated the purpose for OJ.
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