NBC says O.J. and Celebrity Apprentice don't fit

A couple of days ago I posted of the rumors that O.J. Simpson was being eyed as a possible participant in the next season of Donald Trump's Celebrity Apprentice. NBC and Trump's reps are now calling it complete hogwash, saying he was never being considered for a spot.

This whole thing seemed fishy from the get-go. On Howard Stern's radio show last year, Trump mentioned how he distanced himself from O.J. (scroll down to 'Donald Trump Calls In' at 9:25 AM) and made it pretty clear he had doubts about his innocence, even though O.J. attended his wedding. Now Trump is having meetings with the guy, even after that whole show-down in Vegas over memorabilia (trial still pending). So what's changed?

One has to wonder if the "leaked info" regarding O.J.'s interest in Celebrity Apprentice was merely a publicity stunt to drum up interest in the show, even just by making more people aware that it exists.