Did Fox Try to Buy Off O.J. Critics?

O.J. Simpson's book deal and TV specials may be over and done with, but the controversy surrounding them is just getting started.

Simpson's former sister-in-law Denise Brown appeared on the Today show Tuesday, claiming that prior to News Corp. canceling both projects, Rupert Murdoch's company offered her family "millions of dollars" in "hush money" to keep mum on their objections to Simpson's hypothetical confession.

"They wanted to offer us millions of dollars for, like, 'Oh, I'm sorry' money," Brown said. "But they were still going to air the show.

"We just thought, 'Oh my God.' What they're trying to do is trying to keep us quiet, trying to make this like hush money, trying to go around the civil verdict, giving us this money to keep our mouths shut."

Her response to the offer: "Absolutely not."

Andrew Butcher, a representative for News Corp., which owns both Fox (which was due to air the two-part interview) and Regan Books (which was due to publish the pseudoconfessional) admitted to the Associated Press that discussions about money had taken place but that "there were no strings attached."

Butcher claimed the families were offered profits from the book—not hush money—which could go into a college fund for Simpson's children with Nicole Brown, the now 18-year-old Justin and 21-year-old Sidney.

On the Today show, Denise Brown denied such an offer was ever on the table, and that the original "hush money" offer had been made via "several phone calls" by lawyers.

"Our main concern was those children," Brown said, citing her concern for their well-being amid the intense backlash for their father. "These kids know how to read. They hear things. They have not all of a sudden disappeared off the face of the Earth."

On Monday, in the wake of massive public outcry, online petitions, proposed advertiser and consumer boycotts and objections by the victims' families, Murdoch pulled the plug on publishing O.J.: If I Did It, Here's How It Happened and the accompanying two-night sweeps stunt interview in which Simpson graphically detailed how he hypothetically would have carried out the 1994 murders of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman. The interview was taped weeks ago.

"I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project," Murdoch said in a statement. "We are sorry for any pain that this has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson."

Simpson was famously acquitted of the charges in a criminal trial but was later found liable for the deaths in a civil case and was ordered to pay the families $33.5 million. Brown told the Today show that her family's portion was meant to go into a fund for the two children, though they have yet to receive any of the money.

As for Judith Regan, who was due to publish the book and conduct the interview, she claims she paid a third party for the book deal so that Simpson could not profit from it. Brown, however, claimed this was just a way to hide the reported $3.5 million paid to Simpson so that he would not have the money diverted to his outstanding civil judgment.

"The courts will one day find out who that person is," she said of the thus far unnamed third party.

Brown also claimed that she once had a book deal with Regan, but opted out of it once it was made clear, she claims, that the publisher only wanted the headline-grabbing tabloid version of her sister's story.

As for Simpson, who has now been denied his opportunity to speak publicly on the deaths, hypothetically or otherwise, he told the Associated Press that he some day hopes to clear his name.

"I would like nothing better than to straighten out some things that have been mischaracterized," the 59-year-old former football player said. "But I think I'm legally muzzled at this point."

Because the book was due out Nov. 30, copies had already been shipped off to retailers. The publisher has issued a recall of all shipments and has announced plans to recycle the unopened tomes.