According to an Associated Press report filed this afternoon, News Corp. has cancelled If I Did It, as both a book and a TV show. Rupert Murdoch himself made the announcement: “I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project. We are sorry for any pain that his has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson.” The move comes after much public outcry against the project, as well as the refusal of several Fox TV affiliates to air Judith Regan’s two-part interview with O.J. Simpson about the murders. We are attempting to reach Regan Media for comment…here’s a question: That interview is already taped; what happens to the footage?
Meanwhile, Family Violence Prevention Fund president Esta Soler, one of many to call for a boycott of If I Did It, lauds Fox Entertainment for “act[ing] responsibly” and “sparing the nation the spectacle of a violent batterer discussing or recreating two murders he claims he did not commit.” The Fund’s battle against domestic violence continues; “we invite Fox to join us in our work to keep women and children safe.”