© FoxO.J. Simpson
The "lost" confession at the heart of Fox's two-hour special refers to an interview Simpson gave to Judith Regan in 2006 in which Simpson painstakingly explains how he would have committed the crime. The special was originally meant to run on Fox to coincide with the release of Simpson's book, If I Did It. However, when If I Did It was announced in November of 2006, it was immediately met with intense public criticism, causing News Corp. - the parent company of both Fox and Harper Collins (as well as Decider) - to cancel both the book and the television special. At the time, Rupert Murdoch said of the decision: "I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project. We are sorry for any pain this has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown-Simpson."
A version of that book was later edited by a literary agent for the Goldman family and released in 2007. However, the two-part interview Regan conducted with Simpson, which was scheduled to air on November 27 and November 29 of 2006, was buried in the chambers of television history. Until this weekend.
Fox recently unearthed the controversial footage and is set to air it as a two-hour event on Sunday night. The special will be contain long stretches of Regan's original unaired interview, plus interwoven reactions from a panel that contextualize and explain the footage. As O.J. Simpson: The Lost Confession's executive producer Terence Wrong explained in a press event that Decider attended yesterday, the panel was incorporated both to give younger audiences context about this interview and to show the panel's reaction. Wrong received the "lost" footage in mid-January of this year and has worked on putting together the special since then.
The panel will consist of five analysts, all of whom are either directly connected to the case or have some expertise in related subject matter. O.J. Simpson: The Lost Confession's panel will include, Judith Regan, the author, editor, publisher, and TV host who originally conducted the 2006 interview; Eve Shakti Chen, a longtime family friend of the late Nicole Brown Simpson; Rita Smith, a senior advisor to the NFL on domestic abuse; and Jim Clemente, a retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent and Profiler and former New York City prosecutor. However, the name that's likely most interesting to those who followed the case closely is Christopher Darden, a veteran of the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office who was infamously prosecuted Simpson's case in the '90s. Darden did not appear in ESPN's 30 for 30: O.J. Made in America, and he's perhaps best known for being portrayed by Sterling K. Brown in FX's The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.
There are dozens of reasons why this footage and Fox's upcoming special are remarkable, but what's it like to watch it? During the aforementioned press event Decider attended, only an uncut version of the 45-minute original interview was available to watch, but those 45 minutes were chilling. Despite the hundreds of hours that have been devoted to this case and how well-known he is, there is very little footage of Simpson discussing the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. The Lost Confession offers a rare glimpse into the mind of an accused murderer, and it's deeply unsettling to process. Throughout the special, Simpson's eyes dart and tear up as he reconstructs his relationship with his late wife, the aftermath of his trial, and, most fascinatingly, what happened the night of June 12, 1994. There have been a lot of unsettling details revealed about both Simpson and this case over the years, but this interview may rank as one of the most shocking.
Whether or not you believe Orenthal James Simpson is guilty will likely color your opinion of The Lost Confession. Viewers who believe in his innocence will likely write off the special as misleading and manipulative. Viewers who believe he's guilty will likely find themselves as enraged as ever. However, because of the special's largely unedited interviews, for once America will be able to look directly at Simpson - not his legal team, not the prosecution, not news anchors, not actors paid to recreate this tale - and determine for themselves whether or not he committed the crime. (Remember, O.J. did not testify at his criminal trial, and because of our country's double jeopardy laws, cannot go to trial again for these events.) Regardless of what conclusion the majority of viewers come to, Sunday night is going to be an event.
O.J. Simpson: The Lost Confession? premieres on Fox on Sunday, March 11 at 8 p.m. ET. (Yes, at the same time that American Idol premieres on ABC.)
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