Simpson to Be Interviewed on ‘Up Close’

O.J. Simpson will be interviewed on ESPN’s “Up Close” program next Thursday.

The interview, to be conducted by “Up Close” host Chris Myers, will be done live at 3 p.m., the show’s regular time. There are no plans for any repeat showings but excerpts will be shown on later “SportsCenter” shows.

Simpson said that he was asked a couple weeks ago to do the show but couldn’t do it before.

“I watch the show, I like the show. I agreed to go on,” he said.

An ESPN source said there will be no restrictions on questions, and Simpson said, “They can ask me anything they want.”

Simpson did, however, say he asked that the interview be done live, rather than on tape.

The ESPN source said the interview was arranged through Simpson and his attorney, Leroy “Skip” Taft. After they agreed to the interview, the network debated whether to do it.

Apparently, Esquire magazine’s interview with Simpson influenced that decision.

Simpson is the subject of a 10-page cover story in the February issue of Esquire, due out on newsstands Monday. In that story, Simpson steadfastly denies killing his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman but does say, “Let’s say I committed this crime. Even if I did do this, it would have to have been because I loved her very much.”

Author Celia Farber wrote that she is not sure what the enigmatic comment means. “O.J. would angrily deny that it means what you may think it means,” she wrote. “He has never come close to confessing that he murdered his ex-wife.”

Simpson is quoted as saying: “If I’m hurting right now, it’s not because I’ve done anything wrong. It’s because I miss her.”

During the week of the USC-UCLA football game in November, Simpson did an interview with AM 1150 Sports Radio Los Angeles but took only football-related questions. When sponsors complained about Simpson’s being put on the air, the station issued a statement saying Simpson had called on his own after business hours. But Simpson said the interview had been prearranged.

Simpson said that because of the Esquire story, he now expects more interview requests.