(NewsNation) — Nearly 20 years after Judith Regan interviewed O.J. Simpson, the publisher and editor looks back on the exchange as “bone-chilling,” calling Simpson “cold-blooded” and “deeply manipulative.”
Regan in 2006 secured the rights to Simpson’s book, “If I Did It” and conducted a five-hour interview with former NFL star, who died Wednesday. She considers Simpson’s comments a confession to the death of Ron Goldman. He and Simpson’s ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, were found stabbed to death in 1994 outside Brown Simpson’s home.
“It was bone-chilling to sit there across from (Simpson) for five hours because he was truly cold-blooded, deeply manipulative and it was a very disturbing five hours,” said Regan, who appeared ono NewsNation’s “CUOMO” on Thursday.
Simpson was tried and acquitted of the slayings in a criminal case. Jurors in a subsequent wrongful death civil case determined he was liable.
Both the interview and the book — an allegedly hypothetical account of Goldman and Brown Simpson’s deaths — received massive backlash. Both projects were called off, but Regan’s interview would go on to air in 2006, more than a decade after Simpson’s criminal trial. “If I Did It” was published the following year and a judge ultimately awarded the rights to the Goldman family.
Nearly two decades later, Regan describes Simpson’s remarks as “the profile of a textbook abuser.”
“He blames Nicole for everything,” Regan said. “It’s her fault for ruining his life. He laughs inappropriately. He has not a speck of remorse — zero empathy — for the victims and no understanding at all of his actions. None.”