So, the book and TV special, “If I Did It,” the honorable Fox network (note sarcasm, please) and Regan Books had planned to unveil regarding a “confession” by O.J. Simpson regarding the 1994 killings will not be released after all. The much-discussed and despised special that has been hyped for days will not be shown, as News Corporation has cancelled the release of both. The TV special was already pulled from Fox affiliates in Toledo, Albuquerque, Omaha, Fresno and Providence, according to E! Online.

“I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project,” said Rupert K. Murdoch, chairman of NewsCorp. “We are sorry for any pain that this has caused the families of [Ronald] Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson.”

Sad. I actually wanted to hear if Simpson confessed or not.

Before continuing, your friendly neighborhood columnist would like state the following: I have no idea if Simpson committed the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Unlike most of NIU, DeKalb and the rest of the nation, I didn’t have much of an opinion on Simpson as far as his innocence or guilt. That was until this latest attempted at a publicity stunt.

One must first question why Simpson wanted to do an interview with Judith Regan, a woman who calls him “the killer” in her book and her eight-page statement defending her reasons for the book and interview. Here’s an excerpt provided by ABCnews.com: “When I sat face to face with the killer, I wanted him to confess, to release us all from the wound of the conviction that was lost on that fall day in October of 1995.” She added, “For the girl that was left in the gutter, I wanted to make it right.”

If a reasonable person was accused of a crime, whether innocent or guilty, I bet this person surely wouldn’t appear on national TV to confess, or even “hypothetically” tell how the person would kill the mother of their children. Who else but Simpson would thrust himself back into the spotlight in such a sleazy matter? Not to mention The National Enquirer rumor that O.J. received $3.5 million to do the interview, which has now been canned.

One must also question Regan’s motives. She is no journalist. Regan is (or now, was) a person clearly out for money to promote her book. She claims to have done all this for victims of domestic violence.

Uh-huh, sure.

What’s most troubling is that Fox almost got away with showing, “If I Did It.” Where is Fox’s moral responsibility? Why did it take NewsCorp to pull the plug?

I’m happy I didn’t have to view this train wreck, no matter how much I secretly wanted to see it.