Kris Jenner nearly went into business with OJ Simpson before 1995 trial
Kris Jenner is known as the mastermind behind making the Kardashian family one of the most successful and powerful celebrity families through the magic she worked via Keeping Up with the Kardashians, but things could have been very different. In fact, it turns out Kris nearly became the face of her very own television network more than a decade before KUWTK ever debuted — a business venture she would have pursued in partnership with OJ Simpson.
According to OK!, in Cathy Griffin and Dylan Howard’s upcoming biography, Dirty Sexy Secrets: The Unauthorized Biography of Kris Jenner, the pair allege Kris was in talks with Larry Namer and Alan Mruvka to launch FIT, a fitness television network, with her OJ and her husband at the time, Olympian Caitlyn Jenner.
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As Griffin and Howard reveal in their new book, long before KUWTK ever debuted Kris was viewed by television brass as a “shrewd businesswoman” seen as a perfect partner to join OJ and Caitlyn in the launching of the ambitious network.
"“We were off to a tremendous start,” Namer revealed via OK!. “You don’t get any bigger than one of the greatest football players of all time, and you don’t get any better than one of the greatest athletes of all time. We saw it leading into what would eventually become the digital world, where you’d start as a television network, but then you’d be on the internet delivering advanced yoga lessons via computer.”"
Originally, the plan was for the network to launch in the summer of 1994; however, due to unforeseen circumstances, FIT’s launch was delayed until winter in a ploy to reach audiences looking to improve their health after the holidays.
While the network had strong support from its backers heading into its launch, the deals quickly fell through when OJ was put on trial for the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and waiter Ron Goldman.
Kris ultimately would go her separate ways from OJ in wake of the trial and her dreams of becoming the face of a television empire would be shelved more than a decade until KUWTK‘s launch in 2007. Things definitely worked out in Kris’s favor, but it’s hard not to wonder how differently things might have gone had FIT’s launch not been delayed.
Are you surprised to discover Kris Jenner allegedly almost went into business with OJ Simpson to launch a fitness television network? Can you imagine how different the Kardashian empire might look today had Kris and OJ launched their network before his 1995 trial?