Could we be set for a several hour documentary on the life of OJ Simpson?
The Buffalo News’ Alan Pergament wrote in his Tuesday column about ESPN’s Dan Le Batard letting it slip during a radio segment with 30 for 30 co-founder and Grantland head Bill Simmons.
Pergament offered the gist of Le Batard’s slip in his piece. He writes that the radio host brought up the Simpson project on the air only to remember the company had yet to officially announce its existence.
Le Batard suggested that the highly praised “30 for 30” series co-created by Simmons is planning an installment about disgraced Buffalo Bills star O.J. Simpson that could go as long as five hours. After making the statement, Le Batard asked Simmons if he was revealing a secret and shouldn’t have said anything. Simmons said it wasn’t a problem.
OJ Simpson will always be a polarizing figure, but five-hours.
The producer who interviewed me forwarded an email I sent her late last week to an ESPN publicist, who released the following statement about the film.
“It is too early in the production stages of this project to provide additional details,” said an ESPN spokesperson.
The film is expected to deal with the racial attitudes in the country throughout Simpson’s life as his popularity grew as a Heisman Trophy winner at USC, a record-setting running back with the Buffalo Bills, and with his work in advertising, sports television and film before the so-called Trial of the Century in which he was acquitted of murder. Of course, the trial is expected to be a significant part of the film.
There is no scheduled air date but this October could be an ideal time for ESPN to air it since it would be the 20th anniversary of the 1995 verdict in the criminal trial.