Eyewitness backs ousted OJ publisher Judith Regan

LOS ANGELES, Dec 23 (Reuters) A former aide to Judith Regan, the recently fired publisher of OJ Simpson's aborted memoir ''If I Did It,'' has come forward to defend the maverick book editor from charges of anti-Semitism, Regan's lawyer said.

Publishing house HarperCollins fired Regan last week and has quoted her as having complained in an argument with a company lawyer that she was the victim of a ''Jewish cabal'' after her book deal with Simpson, and a related Fox network TV interview, were scrapped by corporate parent News Corp.

Carmen del Toro, who worked as Regan's temporary assistant for one week, has voluntarily offered her own account of the conversation, which contradicts the company's claims that Regan made anti-Semitic remarks, according to her attorney, Bert Fields.

''An independent, third-party witness heard the conversation and says that Judith Regan is telling the absolute truth, that she did not make the anti-Semitic remark attributed to her,'' Fields told Reuters yesterday. Del Toro recounted instead that Regan had said she ''felt a 'cabal' had been formed against her within the company,'' Fields said.

In both Simpson's book and his accompanying TV special, the former football star was to have described, hypothetically, how he would have carried out the 1994 stabbing deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.

Simpson has always maintained his innocence. He was acquitted in 1995 of murder charges, but a civil court jury later found him liable for the double slayings in a wrongful death suit brought by the victims' families.

The announcement of Regan's publishing and TV venture with Simpson last month drew a torrent of criticism accusing News Corp and its subsidiaries of seeking to capitalise on a human tragedy.

Under pressure from booksellers, advertisers and Fox TV affiliates, News Corp Chairman Rupert Murdoch weighed in on November 20 to announce both projects were being canceled, calling them ''ill-considered.'' Last Friday, HarperCollins said Regan had been fired but gave no immediate explanation for her dismissal. News Corp said this week it was because of Regan's anti-Semitic comments to HarperCollins lawyer Mark Jackson, who is Jewish, that she was dismissed as head of her eponymous publishing imprint.

To bolster its claims, News Corp released excerpts of notes Jackson made during his discussion with Regan. Fields fired back on Tuesday, accusing HarperCollins of launching a ''smear campaign'' against Regan and vowing to sue the company.

Yesterday, he issued a statement saying del Toro had come forward to him on her own and ''confirmed that Judith never used the phrase 'Jewish cabal,' nor made any other anti-Semitic statement during that phone conversation.'' News Corp spokesman Andrew Butcher said: ''We stand by Mark Jackson's memory and his detailed notes.'' He said conversation between Regan and Jackson took place last Friday, the same day she was fired, and dealt with ''various business issues,'' including her plans for a fictional first-person account of New York Yankees star Mickey Mantle's life and times.

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