O.J. Simpson has been a free man for a few days now, after spending nine years behind bars for attempted armed robbery and kidnapping, and now he is reportedly seeking upwards of one million dollars for his exclusive first post-prison interview.
However, the Hollywood Reporter is reporting that major networks, such as ABC, CBS and NBC all stress that they will not pay for an O.J. Simpson interview, which would violate news division standards.
Insider sources have told The Hollywood Reporter that the situation is “treacherous,” and that other networks won’t touch it with a “10-foot pole.”
Additionally, several other large cable TV groups, including A+E Networks and Discovery, also have passed on the opportunity for O.J.'s first interview since being released from Lovelock Correctional Center in Nevada.
And even if O.J. manages to secure a six or seven figure deal, or any amount of money for an interview, it would be subject to seizure for the mostly unpaid settlement that he still owes the family of Ron Goldman, after a civil jury found him liable for the killings of Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson in 1994.
According to the New York Daily News, David Cook, a California attorney who’s collecting from Simpson on behalf of the Goldmans, said on October 1st that the $33.5 million sum has increased to nearly $70 million, due to interest.
The Hollywood Reporter notes that a Simpson special on a broadcast or cable network would likely be a nonstarter for advertisers. "From a news perspective, it's probably a get," says media consultant Bill Carroll. "From an advertiser's perspective, it's something that most, if not all, advertisers would stay away from."
Still, the interview is inevitable and there are odds to bet on which network will get the exclusive rights, as well as how much O.J. will be offered for his first post-prison interview.