MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
January 25 – February 1, 2007 Edition
HarperCollins
Shuts Down
ReganMedia
LOS ANGELES, CA/1/19/07—HarperCollins will close ReganMedia in Los Angeles on March 1, following the December firing of its publisher Judith Regan over anti-Semitic remarks following HC CEO Rupert Murdoch’s cancellation of the memoir by accused murderer and former football star O.J. Simpson. The Los Angeles office had been open about a year and employed 17 people.
ReganMedia, known for its controversial titles, also has killed publication of 7: the Mickey Mantel Novel by Peter Golenbock which has drawn heated criticism for undocumented events which may never have taken place. However, Harper/Morrow Group Publisher and President Michael Morrison has said he will publish most of the other books acquired by ReganMedia.
ReganMedia Editorial Director Cal Morgan will move back to Harpercollins’s New York office to oversee remaining winter and spring projects for the imprint. All titles will eventually be absorbed by various HC imprints and will no longer carry the Regan logo. But no other projects are expected to be cancelled.
The controversial Simpson book was to be O.J. Simpson’s “confession” story, IF I DID IT, HERE’S HOW IT HAPPENED, but a massive public outcry caused the parent company News Corp to cancel publication. Shortly thereafter Regan was fired by CEO Rupert Murdoch.
The book was to show how Simpson might have gone about murdering his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. O.J. was acquitted in the criminal trial but convicted of the murders in a civil suit. Many have no doubt that he is guilty of murder.
Judith Regan may still sue Harpercollins for her firing.
