TV Executives Afraid O.J. Simpson Interview Will Make Advertisers Bolt

Disgraced NFL star is shopping around seven-figure deal, but has no takers as of yet.

O.J. Simpson
O.J. Simpson attends a parole hearing at Lovelock Correctional Center July 20, 2017 in Lovelock, Nevada. (Jason Bean-Pool/Getty Images)
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Remember when NBC made the mistake of booking Alex Jones on Megyn Kelly’s new ratings-starved show? A similar scenario is playing out with another polarizing figure: O.J. Simpson.

The disgraced former NFL star is fresh off a stint in prison, during which he says he “spent the last nine years doing nothing.” And besides telling a reporter that it was “none of your business” what he was up to, we haven’t heard a peep from Simpson.

That’s because he’s shopping around that first interview, which The Hollywood Reporter reports is in the seven-figure range. The only problem? Nobody wants in on the media spectacle—and advertisers might not like what they hear or see. THR says sources at ABC, CBS, and NBC (wink wink) don’t want to pay for play—and cable nets, including A&E and Discovery, have also said no.

Why is Simpson asking for so much? He reportedly still owes the Brown and Goldman families $70 million as a result of their 1997 wrongful death suit.

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