O.J. Simpson's win-loss record is getting a little hazy.
A Los Angeles judge ruled Tuesday that all residuals that go to Simpson for past movie and television appearances be turned over to the family of murder victim Ron Goldman, a decision that led both parties to declare victory.
"Last year Simpson's royalty checks from all of his movies were less than 39 cents," Simpson attorney Yale Galanter said after court. "They got kicked to the curb again. Every door they're banging on gets slammed."
Galanter was gallantly referring to the Goldman family's decade-long attempt to collect on the $33.5 million wrongful-death judgment awarded to them and to the family of Nicole Brown Simpson in 1997. The Goldmans have maintained that they have received next to nothing from Simpson, who blew a huge chunk of his fortune on legal expenses but has a $4 million NFL pension that the courts can't touch.
Meanwhile, Goldman attorney David J. Cook also characterized Tuesday's ruling as a win, suggesting that there could actually be thousands of dollars lying in wait for his clients.
"The movie studios are going to have to change the name of the payee from Simpson to Goldman," Cook told Reuters. "There's a new payee in town."
Last week, Cook filed subpoenas requesting that the Screen Actors Guild, the Producers Guild of America and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists turn over their records concerning the money paid out to Simpson over the years for his roles in, among others, the Naked Gun trilogy and the '80s-era HBO comedy 1st & 10, as well as for his numerous commercials, cameos and guest spots.
L.A. Superior Court Judge Gerald Rosenberg rejected the Goldmans' bid to collect on Simpson's future film and TV work (of which there's surely going to be tons), however, calling those assets "speculative."
The judge also hasn't issued a ruling yet on the Goldmans' petition to seize the reported $1.1 million advance Simpson was paid by former HarperCollins publisher Judith Regan for their since-aborted If I Did It book and interview project.
Rosenberg, who put a freeze on the money—which Simpson says has already been spent—on Feb. 8, said that he hasn't been able to authenticate the contract yet. Meanwhile, HarperCollins parent News Corp. has only copped to paying out $800,000 to an undisclosed third party.
Another hearing on the matter has been scheduled for Mar. 13.