Hearing Scheduled in Claim Against O.J. Simpson

O.J. Simpson has asked a California court to dismiss a lawsuit seeking the publicity rights to his name, image and likeness to pay millions of dollars owed to relatives of his slain ex-wife and her friend.

Fred Goldman, whose son, Ron Goldman, was killed alongside Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole in 1994, filed a petition last month in Santa Monica Superior Court seeking control of the publicity rights to Simpson’s name and likeness.

Simpson was acquitted of the killings, but another jury found him liable in 1997 in a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the victims’ families.

Both sides agreed to a hearing on the matter on Tuesday, Simpson attorney Ronald P. Slates said Thursday.

In seeking the petition’s dismissal, Simpson argued that he is not subject to matters in the California court because he lives in Florida.

“The ‘right to publicity’ has moved to Florida,” the legal documents stated.

If Simpson’s publicity rights were reassigned, Fred Goldman conceivably would be allowed to “disparage his image on billboards across the country,” Simpson’s court papers argued, adding, “This is absurd.”

Goldman’s petition said Simpson had made money from autographs and appearances but hadn’t paid a dime of the estimated $38 million he owed from the wrongful-death suit and interest on the amount awarded.

A call to Goldman’s attorney seeking comment was not immediately returned.