Simpson Scheduled to Give TV Interview

O.J. Live. Finally.

No limits. No restrictions. No holds barred.

That’s the claim, at least, of Black Entertainment Television executives planning to air an interview Wednesday with O.J. Simpson--his first live question-and-answer session since his acquittal on murder charges.

Jefferi K. Lee, president of BET Networks, said Monday that he expects the hourlong interview, scheduled to be broadcast Wednesday at 7 p.m. on the cable network, to be informative and forthcoming.

“He has a story he wants to tell, and no one is allowing him to tell his story,” Lee said of Simpson. “We will not retry him. We want to talk about issues and issues that affect him, as a black man in America who has done everything the judiciary asked him to do, and is still being persecuted.”

Lee said it has been “made clear there would be no restrictions on the questions we will ask,” but that there is no way of knowing how candid Simpson might be.

“I assume he will be the same as anyone else that we interview,” Lee said. “He will answer the questions he wants to answer and not answer the questions he doesn’t want to.”

Lee said the network had been pursuing Simpson for an interview since he was charged.

If the interview takes place, it will be the second questioning Simpson will undergo this week. The former football star started his deposition in a lawsuit Monday where he was forced to answer questions concerning the deaths of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Lyle Goldman.

But with pressure from the suit bearing down, some television insiders wondered whether Simpson would even show up for the BET session.

Last October, just hours before it was scheduled to air, Simpson backed out of a live interview with NBC. The cancellation followed an eruption of protests. And apparently he has backed away from his promise to give his first televised interview to CNN legal analyst Greta Van Susetern.

But now Simpson may have more to gain from an interview.

Lee said Simpson probably would plug a video he made with infomercial producer Tony Hoffman that details his alibis and thoughts about the murder. Television stations have largely refused to sell ad time for the video, available only through mail order for $29.95, but Hoffman has purchased commercial time for four weeks on BET. Commercials for the video will run before and after the interview, Lee said.

Lee denied that BET is jeopardizing its integrity and credibility in interviewing Simpson and selling air time for his video commercial.

“The world is trying to tear us down,” said Lee, responding to concerns he had heard from the mainstream media.

“BET has been around for 15 years.” Lee said. “We’ve interviewed presidents of the United States, congressmen, everyone. Never once has our credibility been brought into question. But when we interview an ex-football player and actor who has been acquitted for murder, then we have to justify ourselves.”

News anchorman Ed Gordon will conduct the interview at an undisclosed location, and Simpson is not being paid, Lee said. If he sits down for the interview, Simpson will reacha much smaller audience than with NBC. BET is seen in 44.2 million households, less than half of the total households in the country.