The Pistorius family won't make money from Oscar interview, says uncle Arnold

It was on Thursday announced that Oscar Pistorius would break his silence for the first time since the death of Reeva Steenkamp in 2013 during a sit-down interview on Britain's ITV.

A once-off show titled Oscar Pistorius: The Interview, featuring the athlete in an exclusive one-on-one with investigative journalist Mark Williams-Thomas will be aired in the UK on 24 June.

A statement released by ITV explained that "Pistorius will be questioned about his account on what happened on the night he killed his girlfriend and is questioned on key details of the case."

• Oscar Pistorius documentary gaining interest at CannesIt was announced at the beginning of May that pre-production for Beyond Reasonable Fact, a documentary based on the killing of Reeva Steenkamp by paralympian Oscar Pistorius, had begun. 

Since it emerged that Pistorius would be speaking out, his uncle has released a statement explaining why the decision was made, and to reiterate that Oscar nor the Pistorius family would benefit financially from the show.

"Despite the many, many requests for interviews with Oscar from across the globe – often coupled with huge financial inducements – we have been absolutely consistent in our position that there would be no interview, or media engagement, for Oscar’s financial benefit. "

He added that even though Oscar has suffered major financial losses during the trial, any money received from the documentary would go to charity.

"We are aware of the lucrative mini-industry of paid-for interviews and bought information that developed around this case, and we wanted to steer very clear of this. Despite Oscar’s crippling legal fees, this remains our position. Neither Oscar, nor the Pistorius family will make any money out of this documentary. Any (potential) proceeds would go to charities for children. "

Oscar's uncle further explained that they reason the decision was made for an interview to take place was largely to address the "untruths" around his family and the case.

"Our silence was a conscious decision based on our respect for the legal process, the gravity of the case and the devastation and hurt that has been caused. However, there can be no doubt that this silence also created fertile ground for inaccuracies and unfounded speculation to flourish in the media and public domain."

Here is the full statement:

Following numerous media enquiries today, I (Arnold Pistorius) have asked that the following statement be issued to the media:

“Over the past three years we have been very judicious in our media engagement and commented only in situations where it was not possible to manage the weight of media enquiries in another way.

We have been deeply respectful of the legal process and mindful not to contribute to the media frenzy that has characterised this case. We declined almost all requests for interviews and comment. It also, for instance, led us not to attend the SCA hearing in Bloemfontein as we wanted the legal process to take its course without us contributing to the media tsunami that has engulfed our family since 2013.

Despite the many, many requests for interviews with Oscar from across the globe – often coupled with huge financial inducements – we have been absolutely consistent in our position that there would be no interview, or media engagement, for Oscar’s financial benefit. We are aware of the lucrative mini-industry of paid-for interviews and bought information that developed around this case, and we wanted to steer very clear of this. Despite Oscar’s crippling legal fees, this remains our position. Neither Oscar, nor the Pistorius family will make any money out of this documentary. Any (potential) proceeds would go to charities for children.

Our silence was a conscious decision based on our respect for the legal process, the gravity of the case and the devastation and hurt that has been caused. However, there can be no doubt that this silence also created fertile ground for inaccuracies and unfounded speculation to flourish in the media and public domain.

Not knowing what the future holds for Oscar after this week, I decided it was necessary to take up one media offer that would provide our family with a voice to address some of the misconceptions that have remained unchallenged. I wish to make it very clear that this engagement with ITV was my decision, and not Oscar’s initative.

Having considered the various offers and options available, I decided to engage with Mark Williams-Thomas. I felt his platform on ITV was the most appropriate place to do this – because of its style and format. Williams-Thomas is a Peabody award-winning investigative journalist, and has followed the case closely from the outset.

In order to avoid any inference that this documentary could be an attempt to influence the legal process in any way, our agreement was that it would only be aired after the conclusion of the court proceedings of the coming week."