HarperCollins paid O.J. Simpson to write a hypothetical confession, then pulped the run

HarperCollins imprint ReganBooks signed O.J. Simpson, acquitted of murdering Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman but later found liable in civil court, to write 'If I Did It' — a first-person hypothetical account of how he would have committed the killings. The publisher printed roughly 400,000 copies and scheduled a companion TV special.

The announcement triggered immediate public outrage, with critics calling it Simpson profiting from describing the murders in detail regardless of the book's hypothetical framing. Fox affiliates and booksellers signaled they would not carry the special or the book, and advertisers pulled out.

News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch canceled both the book and the TV special within days, before publication. HarperCollins pulped the entire print run and issued a public apology, absorbing the printing cost and the advance already paid to Simpson.