August 8. 2007
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O J says ‘If I Did It’ Full of Errors Have you seen me?
Flaws blamed
on ghost writer
O.J. Simpson says his hypotheti­
cal account o f killing his ex-w ife in
his aborted m em oir "If 1 Did It" was
invented by aghost w riter and filled
with errors that he refused to cor­
rect for fear o f appearing to be guilty
o f the crim e.
Simpson related his involvement
in the book, w hich was scrapped
shortly before its release date last
year am id a torrent of public out­
rage, in a rare, hour long Internet
interview.
A fter a long legal fight, rights to
the book passed to the fam ily o f
murder victim Ron Goldman, a friend
of Nicole Brown Sim pson who was
slain along with Sim pson's ex-w ife
at her Los A ngeles hom e in June
1994.
Sim pson was acquitted o f crim i­
nal charges at the end o f a sensa­
tional m urder trial in 1995 but was
found liable for the deaths o f his
0 . J. S im p s o n ta lk s with o n e o f h is d e f e n s e a tto r n e y s during h is
2 0 0 1 'road r a g e ' trial in M iam i-D ade C o u n ty court.
form er spouse and G oldm an two
years later in a civil case brought by
the victims' estates.
G o ld m a n 's
f a th e r ,
F re d
G oldm an, w ho originally opposed
the book, said last w eek he w ants
it published becau se he view s it
as "an indictm ent o f a w ife-beater,
o f a m u rd erer, w ritten in his ow n
w o rd s."
Judith Regan, the publisher who
originally brokered the book deal,
has said she considered the book
Sim pson's confession.
S im pson said the book was
co m p o sed by a g h o st au th o r, and
that he relu ctan tly ag reed to in ­
c lu d e a c h a p te r c o n ta in in g a
"n ig h t-o f-th e-crim e” acco u n t as
told by him only after the p u b ­
lishers prom ised to c lea rly label it
as hy p o th etical.
"Because I didn't do i t . ... 1 will
not justify the evidence they had. It
didn't work then," he said. "We got
to that chapter, and I said. Hey, I
ca n ’t participate in that.'"
"I read what he w rote, and I saw
all o f these m ajor holes, all of these
im possible things," Simpson re­
called. He gave few specific ex ­
am ples o f the discrepancies he
found but said he declined to cor­
rect any o f them.
"All o f these other parts o f the
book I would correct, but I told
myself, 'If I correct this, there are
going to be people out there that
say, 'Oh. look how accurate this is,'
Right?"
Sim pson said he never thought
the book would get published and
consented to it mostly because he
needed the money.
Missing and Exploited Children
1-800-THE-LOST
Endangered-Missing
CAROLINEDEWl JEF
Family Abduction
Abductor: Nancy Hayes
Current Age: 10
Date Missing: July 29,2007
Missing From: Lincolnshire. IL
Caroline itn .v last seen in the company o f her non­
custodial mother Nancy Hayes
Whoopi Looks Ahead to ‘The View’
Says she’s going
to be ‘me’
(A P) — W hoopi G oldberg will
bring no celebrity feuds w ith her
w hen she jo in s "The V iew ," at
least none that she's aw are of.
"W ho know s?" she told T he
A s s o c ia te d P re ss. " A n y b o d y
co u ld s a y ' 1 don't like her.' T hat's
O K . I ju st w on't co m e to your
hom e."
T h at a lre ad y sets G o ld b e rg
apart from her predecessor. "The
V iew ," putting R osie O 'D onnell
in its rearview m irror, officially
in tr o d u c e d G o ld b e r g to th e
show 's audience as its m o d era­
tor last w eek. S h e’ll start full tim e
W hoopi G oldberg
the day after L abor Day.
G o ld b e r g , 5 1 , g iv e s "T h e
V iew " a g e n u in e ly b ig nam e
an d d istin c t p e rs o n a lity in h er
o w n rig h t. S h e 's a m o n g th e
se le c t few p e rfo rm e rs to w in
an O s c a r, E m m y , T o n y an d
G ra m m y aw ard .
S he's no stran g er to political
c o n t r o v e r s y . G o ld b e r g w a s
d um ped from a S lim -F ast ad v e r­
tisin g ca m p a ig n in 2 0 0 4 after
m ak in g a speech m ocking the
Bush ad m in istratio n at a political
ra lly , at o n e p o in t u sin g th e
p resident's su rnam e as a sexual
referen c e.
G o ld b erg said she's looking
fo rw ard to talking ab o u t w hat's
g o in g on d u rin g w hat prom ises
to be an in terestin g y ea r ahead.
She'll be the m oderator, m eaning
it w ill g en erally be h er jo b to steer
the discussion and keep the show
ru n n in g on tim e.
"I ju st figure I'm g o in g to be
m e," she said. "They know w ho
I am and know w hat I do, so
n o b o d y w ill be su rp rised if I
d isag ree strongly but not m eanly.
I'll n ever be m ean. It's ju st not in
me."
B arbara W alters, the sh o w ’s
creato r, said G o ld b erg brought a
f o r m i d a b le c o m b in a t io n o f
sm arts and skills as an e n te r­
tainer, and also adds d iversity to
the program .
"T he V iew " has been w ithout a
reg u lar black cast m em b er since
S tar Jones R eynolds left under
storm y circu m stan ces last su m ­
m er.
CHRISTIAN FERGUSON
Non-Family Abduction
CurrentAge: 13 (Age Progression to age 13)
Date Missing: June 11.2003
Missing From: Saint Louis, MO
Christian was last seen sitting in a relative’s
vehicle when it was stolen. The vehicle lias since
been recovered. Christian's whereabouts remain
unknown. Christian suffers from severe medical
problems requiring daily medication, and physi­
cal disabilities.
If you have atty information please contact:
The National Centerfor Missing and Exploited Children
1-800-THE-LOST ( 1-800-843-5678)
this public service announcement provided
by the Portland Observer Newspaper.
Lead Paint Brings Another Toy Recall
(A P) — C hina said it w ould work with the
United States to im prove product safety am id a
massive U.S. recall Thursday of plastic preschool
toys m ade by a Chinese vendor, including the
popular Big Bird. Elmo, Dora and D iego charac­
ters.
T oy-m aker Fisher-Price announced that it was
recalling alm ost I m illion o f the toys, the latest in
a string o f Chinese product safety scandals.
Fisher-Price and the com m ission issued state­
m ents saying parents should keep suspect toys
aw ay from children and contact the com pany.
The recall follow s another high-profile move
from toy m aker RC2 Corp., which in June volun­
tarily recalled 1.5 m illion wooden railroad toys
and set parts from its T hom as & Friends W ooden
Railway product line.
T he com pany said that the surface paint on
certain toys and parts m ade in C hina between
January 2005 and April 2 0 0 6 contain lead, affect­
ing 26 com ponents and 23 retailers.
O w ners o f a recalled toy can exchange it for a
voucher for another product o f the same value.
T o see pictures o f the recalled toys, visit
service.m attel.com . For m ore inform ation, call Fisher- Price to ys s u b je c t to recall in clu d e th e p o p u la r Big Bird. Elm o, Dora a n d D iego
Mattel's recall hot line at 8 0 0 -9 16-4498.
ch a ra cte rs, b e c a u s e th eir p a in t c o n ta in s e x c e s s iv e a m o u n ts o f lead. (AP p h o to )
«MMWMRM
September Trial Date for R. Kelly
R. Kelly is
s c h e d u le d to
g o o n trial
S e p t. 1 7 , m o re
th a n five y e a rs
a fte r th e R&B
sin g e r w a s
first c h a rg ed
with child
pornography.
(AP P hoto)
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(AP) — R. Kelly will g o o n trial Sept.
17 in Chicago, more than live years after
he was charged with child pornogra­
phy.
The date was set last week after a
lengthy meeting am ong the judge, the
lead prosecutor, the R&B singer and
his lawyers.
Kelly, who was born Robert Sylvester
Kelly, has pleaded not guilty to 14
counts o f child pornography. He was
charged in 2002 and is accused o f alleg­
edly engaging in videotaped sex acts
with an underage girl.
Kelly's attorneys haven't conceded
that he is on the tape, saying his likeness
may have been com puter generated.
They have also tried to raise doubts
about the identity and age of the girl.
The case has been hit with delay
after delay. Since being charged. Kelly
has had six best-selling albums and
three nationwide tours.
The 40-year-old singer has said he’ll
survive his legal tribulations.
"I'm going through my own struggle
...and you're either gonna fold or you're
going to stand," Kelly told The A sso­
ciated Press in 2(X)5, "and I believe in
standing."
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