O.J. Simpson

The News Corporation, a major media group, says it has canceled publication of a controversial book by former athlete and actor O.J. Simpson, who was acquitted in 1995 of charges that he killed his former wife and a companion.

The corporation said it is canceling the book, titled, If I did It, as well as a television special featuring an interview with Simpson.

News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch said today the project was ill-considered. He apologized to the families of the murder victims, Ronald Goldman and Simpson's former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson.

News that Simpson authored a book about how he would have committed murder sparked new controversy. Several television stations affiliated with News Corporation's Fox Broadcasting said they would not air the TV special.

Although Simpson was acquitted, he was later found guilty in a civil trial and ordered to pay the victims' families $33.5 million.

Fred Goldman, Ronald Goldman's father, speaking on CNN television, urged people not to buy the book or watch the interview.

Goldman's relatives said they would pursue legal options to claim any revenues from the book.

Simpson was accused of the murders after neighbors found the bodies of Goldman and Brown Simpson on June 14, 1994 in front of Brown Simpson's home in Los Angeles. They had been stabbed several times and Brown Simpson's throat slashed.

Millions of Americans watched Simpson's first trial on television. His legal team painted the Los Angeles police department as biased against blacks.

Simpson has always maintained his innocence.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.