OJ Part Deux

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"By the way, Joe, I was listening after I hung up. So, you think I'm guilty, do you?"

"Well, OJ," I replied, "that doesn't exactly make me unique, does it?" I expected a quick hang-up and death to our newly agreed-upon deal. That rascal OJ, though, shocked me with his response. It was a long, malevolent laugh that sent chills through my body, followed by "have your GM call me to set up the interview," followed by more laughter as he hung up the phone. I stood there for about a minute, not believing what I'd just heard. The GM's assistant asked what he said, I told her, and she may have been more shocked than I. She promised to tell the GM so he could set up the follow-up interview. I walked out thankful the night was over.

The next morning, my earlier prediction became reality. We/I got destroyed in the papers, all the writers incredulous why we/I would have Simpson on under those circumstances. When I went in later that day, the GM/genius was mad at me for going on the air and revealing the terms of the station's agreement with Simpson. Unbelievable.

As it turned out, the follow-up never happened, because corporate higher-ups reamed the genius for allowing Simpson to dictate terms of the interview. One year later, to the week, the station fired me, the only time in 31 years in radio that I've been canned. My buddy, the GM, gave me one final gift – he tried to get out of paying the remainder of my ironclad contract. When my lawyer got involved, he caved as badly as I had a year earlier. I was on my way to better things, away from the unscrupulous radio genius.

One final footnote: I'm back working at the same radio station, and for the same company which unceremoniously dumped him a couple of years ago.

And no, he apparently had nothing to do with the latest Simpson interview/book fiasco, although I'm sure he wanted in on the project.