Well, at least there is one person who is happy about O.J. Simpson getting paroled – Kato Kaelin. The 58-year-old personality, who made a name for himself as a witness in O.J.’s 1995 murder trial, spoke with Entertainment Tonight about his former friend. Like most of the country, Kato watched as the 70-year-old former football player was granted parole this week after spending nine years in prison for his role in the robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers. As he watched the proceedings Kato noted “I’ve got to say, it’s strange to hear his voice. It really is. It’s that distinctive O.J. voice. It’s sort of chilling. And it’s a lot of rambling.”

Kato noted that O.J.’s oldest daughter Arnelle’s supporting her father at the parole hearing may have been key to his being released. Said Kato “Watching it, I think the biggest shock was that he didn’t seem to have the compassion, and the compassion seemed to be with his daughter, Arnelle. She really spoke from her heart. You could totally tell that she missed her dad.” Adding to his feeling that O.J. came off as chilly, he added “I didn’t see the compassion from [O.J.]. I thought he seemed to be the same O.J. – just tried and true charisma.”

Although Kato does believe O.J. murdered his ex-wife Nicole and Ron Goldman back in 1994, he doesn’t have an opinion on his upcoming release from jail, but he observed that “I think he’s going to have to walk on eggshells the rest of his life.” From what I’ve heard, O.J. will be eggshell strolling in Naples, Florida (sorry, Mom and Dad).

During his parole hearing, O.J. said that “Right now, I’m at a point in my life where I just want to spend as much time with my children and my friends. I’m not looking to be involved with the media. I’m not interested in any of that,” but Kato feels like he won’t be able to stay out of the public eye. He opined that, “This will not be the final chapter of O.J. Simpson,” adding “I think what’s going to happen will be either a book deal, a reality show, some sort of sit-down interview, maybe pay-per-view.”

One project that has reportedly been brought to the table is a reality show pairing O.J. and Kato as roomies. Kato told Radar Online that he was offered $3 million to participate but turned down the offer. He told the site “I can’t mention who floated that offer, but I can tell you I told my representatives to remind me to never work with those people on anything they do ever again. Absolutely not. Never at any price. I could not live with that.” I have two problems with this story. First off, who would pay Kato $3 million for anything? This is a guy whose most notable acting achievements were small appearances in the movie BASEketball and on an episode of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. Also, I don’t think Kato could really turn down such a big paycheck. He has already jumped at any chance to be interviewed in the wake of the parole hearing and he’s on the Con circuit, hawking his autograph for money. So…there’s that.

Another one of O.J.s former associates, Tom Riccio, who also played a part in the Las Vegas robbery, is hoping to make a buck from this whole fiasco as well. He’s hoping to adapt his 2008 book Busted!, which chronicled the 2007 crime, into a big screen blockbuster. Riccio told the New York Daily News that “There has been a lot of interest from producers and studios about adapting that story into something with all that has happened in the last couple of years.”

I don’t know about you, but I would be perfectly content to never hear the name O.J. Simpson again. He should just fade into obscurity and do his best to stay out of trouble. We don’t need to see him, or Kato, or give money to a criminal who wants to make money off of a crime he helped commit. O.j. lucked out, plain and simple. Let’s hope he doesn’t go off rubbing his (undeserved) freedom in everybody’s faces.

Photos: Getty Images, WENN.com