LOS ANGELES, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- Nearly one month after a controversial book project by O.J. Simpson about his hypothetical killing of his ex-wife, the aborted book's would-be publisher was fired by News Corp.'s Harpercollins publishing company, a report said Saturday.

    In a terse two-sentence statement released overnight in New York, Harpercollins president Jane Friedman said Judith Regan' employment with the company had been terminated effective immediately, but her imprint, Regan Books, would remain a part of the parent company, the Los Angeles Times reported.

    Regan, the powerful, cocky and often outrageous publisher, has recently moved most of her employees from their New York office tonew headquarters in Los Angeles.

    The 53-year-old former National Enquirer reporter has built her own publishing and TV empire within Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., an international media giant that includes 20th Century Fox, Fox News Channel, the New York Post and TV stations across the United States.

    With her brash style and cagey business instincts, Regan has helped generated a lot of bestselling books by numerous famous authors ranging from former U.S. Central Command chief Tommy Franks to porn star Jenna Jameson.

    But her winning streak ended sharply when she reportedly paid Simpson, the former American football star, 3.5 million dollars for a book and television deal about how he might have carried out the infamous 1994 slayings of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her boy-friend.

    Murdoch announced last month he and other News Corp. officials had decided to terminate the project because of growing public protest over its content.

    Simpson was considered the main suspect in the 1994 killings at his ex-wife's residence in Los Angeles, but he was acquitted by a grand jury the next year of murder charges.

    Regan's decision to shift her operation to Los Angeles, a move that took place this year, reflected her belief that there were "tremendous synergies" to be mined between writers and the entertainment business, the Los Angeles Times said.