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Reaction to the not guilty verdict was largely split along racial lines: At the time, 62% of White people surveyed believed him guilty, while 66% of African Americans believed him not guilty, a CNN and Time Magazine poll showed. Additionally, 65% of African Americans believed Simpson had been framed.
Those opinions would change over time. By 2014 – even before ESPN’s landmark documentary “O.J.: Made in America” masterfully reexamined the case through the lens of Simpson’s race – a CNN/ORC poll found 53% of Black people surveyed said the murder charges against Simpson were either “definitely true” or “probably true.”
Simpson continued officially to maintain his innocence. But he at times appeared to toy with the public’s perception of the case: He penned a book titled, “If I Did It,” that was promoted as a hypothetical first-hand account of the killings. The publisher initially canceled its run amid widespread criticism, but it was published in 2007 under the title, “If I Did It: Confessions of The Killer,” after a judge awarded the rights to Goldman’s family, with proceeds going toward the millions of dollars Simpson had failed to pay in the civil judgment.
Simpson similarly – and again, hypothetically, he said – described the killings in detail in a 2006 interview meant to serve as a companion to the book. That interview was held for years before airing in 2018.
“And I remember I grabbed the knife – I do remember that portion … – and to be honest after that I don’t remember, except I’m standing there and there’s all kind of stuff around and …” he said, before his voice trailed off.