The crazy story behind OJ Simpson’s book ‘If I did It’ — and the Goldman’s fight over it
Shameless OJ Simpson once wrote a ‘hypothetical’ book about the murder of his ex wife.
The novel, one of the most audacious in recent history, was to be called “If I Did It,” and was initially cancelled over intense backlash over the disgraced running back profiting from the murders he had been acquitted of.
However, after a civil trial in Los Angeles ruled him responsible for the deaths of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman — and awarded their famliies $33m — they were also awarded the rights to the book and released it, with the title altered.
In huge red letters the cover read “I DID IT” with a much smaller “IF” hidden in the I. The subtitle became “Confessions of the Killler”.
Inside, the book detailed OJ and Nicole’s contentious relationship, how it broke down, and included a chapter called “The Night in Question” describing June 12, 1994.
That chapter featured the hypoethetical account of what had happened to OJ on the night of the murders, including him driving to Nicole’s house with a friend he called ‘Charlie’ — who had brought a knife with him — and confronting her and pal Fred Goldman alongside, before blacking out.
In the book, co-written with writer Pablo Fenjves, OJ describes coming to and seeing his ex and Goldman covered in blood, then being in disbelief; claiming he had no idea what just happened and who had caused it.
On Thursday, Fenjves expressed his regret at the project, which he said he only agreed to once he had been told the profits would all go to Simpson’s children.
He told Newsweek: “One of the things that struck me, in a strange way, you know, he murdered Nicole twice. He murdered her in real life, and then he proceeded to murder her character in the book.
“And I let him. I let him do it. I just listened and took down what he said because he was unaware of what a terrible light he was putting himself in.”
Goldman’s aunt, Kim, said once they realized what the book contained and OJ was avoiding his debt to them, they wanted the public.
“[OJ] moved to Florida to avoid paying the money he owed us. Florida is very friendly to debtors: his house is safeguarded from our claims, as are his pensions,” Kim told The Guardian.
“We had read the manuscript and realized it wasn’t the ‘how-to’ book that we feared — but a confession,” she continued.
In June 2007, the bankruptcy court gave the copyright to the Goldmans so Simpson couldn’t profit.
“Ron Goldman will own Simpson’s name, likeness, signature and story and will hawk it to satisfy this terrible judgment,” David Cook, the family lawyer, said after the ruling. “Justice has arrived in Miami.”
Kim echoed similar thoughts in the book’s preface, which she wrote.
“He had worked hard on this book, and thought he would retire off of it, and we took it right out from under him,” she wrote. “He had escaped our reach for nearly 11 years, but not this time.”
Simpson’s name was stricken from the piece, replaced by a credit to the Goldman family.
Ron’s father, Fred, said the aim was to use OJ’s own words against him.
“He wrote it as a cynical exercise to make money,” Fred told the outlet. “We’re publishing it to turn his words against him, to show to anybody who’s sitting on the fence about this case that he was responsible for the murder of Ron and Nicole.”
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The remaining proceeds were to go to charity — including foundations set up in both victims’ names meant to help victims of domestic violence.
“I do personally feel that I would let Ron down if I didn’t pursue this,” Fred told The Guardian.
“Ron deserved justice, and he deserved to live. We couldn’t get justice in the criminal trial, so this is the best we can do.”
