O.J. Simpson to confess — hypothetically

O.J. Simpson is confessing. Hypothetically, that is.

The former football great, who was acquitted in criminal court 11 years ago of killing his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, reportedly has been paid a whopping $3.5 million to write about the double murder that shocked and riveted the nation in 1994, according to a detailed report in the new National Enquirer.

But Simpson is not actually confessing to the murder — rather, he’s writing a “hypothetical” book — which the Enquirer reports is tentatively being called “If I Did It.”

The early part of the book tells how Simpson fell in love with Nicole and how the marriage collapsed, reports the tab. He goes on, according to the article, to describe in gruesome detail the killing of his ex-wife and Goldman; he stipulates that the murder scenes are “hypothetical.” But, notes the tab, the descriptions are “so detailed and so chillingly realistic” that readers are left with little doubt as to what really happened.

Simpson can never be retried for the murders because of double jeopardy laws, according to the Enquirer, which also claims that Simpson aims to keep any book money instead of paying it out in a civil suit judgment against him by spending it all quickly.

A mother's love
Toni Braxton startled — and moved — fans in a recent concert at the Flamingo in Las Vegas when she broke down in tears, discussing her autistic son.

“She was dedicating ‘I Wanna Be (Your Baby)’ to her son, and then she said something about how people have warned her that she shouldn’t talk about it, but said that he was autistic, and then she started crying and rushed off stage,” says a source. “It was very emotional.”

Braxton’s rep didn’t return a call, but fans have been writing Braxton in support. 

“Please don’t lose heart,” one fan who also has an autistic child wrote to Braxton. “You’ll see great improvements with your little one. May God bless you and bring your little one around soon.”

Notes from all over
“The Bridge,” an anti-Scientology film, was removed from the Internet — and one critic is claiming that folks linked to the religion put pressure on the filmmaker, Brett Hanover. “[I]t appears that Scientology has hired investigators to dig up dirt on Brett Hanover to shudder him into silence,” writes blogger Mark Bunker. “ They have succeeded.” . . . Diana Ross has reached out to Beyoncé Knowles, Alicia Keys and Mariah Carey — offering them advice on how to survive in the business. “I was getting ready to give advice and support to any of them ... because Mariah Carey used to always ask ... how to have longevity,” the diva said, reports ContactMusic. “So I am available to discuss what it takes.”  . . . Jack Osbourne says the best part of being famous is the freebies. “I got a 40-inch plasma screen the other week, which was pretty cool,” he said. “I went to a party run by my housemate who’s a PR blogger and all I had to do was have a photo taken of myself with the TV. Having said that, it still hasn’t turned up in the post yet.”

Jeannette Walls Delivers the Scoop Mondays through Thursdays on MSNBC.com