To sell the show, we created the narrative that Trump was a super-successful businessman who lived like royalty. That was the conceit of the show. At the very least, it was a substantial exaggeration; at worst, it created a false narrative by making him seem more successful than he was.
In fact, Trump declared business bankruptcy four times before the show went into production, and at least twice more during his 14 seasons hosting. The imposing board room where he famously fired contestants was a set, because his real boardroom was too old and shabby for TV.
[...]
The image of Trump that we promoted was highly exaggerated. In its own way, it was “fake news” that we spread over America like a heavy snowstorm. I never imagined that the picture we painted of Trump as a successful businessman would help catapult him to the White House.
I discovered in my interactions with him over the years that he is manipulative, yet extraordinarily easy to manipulate. He has an unfillable compliment hole. No amount is too much. Flatter him and he is compliant. World leaders, including apparently Russian strongman Vladimir Putin and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, have discovered that too.
I also found Trump remarkably thin-skinned. He aggressively goes after those who critique him and seeks retribution. That’s not very businesslike – and it’s certainly not presidential.
[...]
At the wrap party for “The Apprentice” season three, he pitched an idea for the upcoming season. He told me we should make a team of Black players compete against white players. My first thought was: WTF?! I tried to get through to him by speaking the language he understands: money. I explained that sponsors wouldn’t want to be associated with a show that pitted races against each other. But he could not understand why this was such a bad idea.
[...]
If you believe that Trump will be better for you or better for the country, that is an illusion, much like “The Apprentice” was. Even if you are a born-and-bred Republican, as I was, I strongly urge you to vote for Kamala Harris. The country will be better off and so will you.
[...]
While we were successful in marketing “The Apprentice,” we also did irreparable harm by creating the false image of Trump as a successful leader. I deeply regret that. And I regret that it has taken me so long to go public.
In the past two weeks, the people familiar with the matter note, Trump has casually slipped into conversation lines such as, “How would you like to see The Apprentice come back?” and “Remember The Apprentice?”
The president has also bragged about how much of a ratings draw and money-maker the series was for him and creator and Trump pal Mark Burnett, and that if he wanted to, he could do it again. Whether a network would have him is another question.
He can do it on OAN.
Burnett has been talking up the prospect and has told associates he sees a revived Apprentice as a potential huge money spinner, according to a person familiar with his thinking.
They should both go to Hell.
Regarding plans for the pair to restart the hit TV show, a spokesperson for Burnett, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Daily Beast via email, “NOT TRUE zero discussions about TV.”
[...]
The aftermath of the 2020 election isn’t the first time during this presidential term that Trump has talked about bringing back the show. In November 2019, The Daily Beast reported that Burnett and the sitting president had discussed shooting a new, politics-themed edition of the series after Trump left office. The show would have a working title of The Apprentice: White House.
Dear god.
After that article was published, the president took to Twitter to deny the report, falsely claiming, “Fake News is reporting that I am talking to Mark Burnett about doing a big show, perhaps The Apprentice, after the presidency, which I would assume they mean in 5 years. This is not true, never had such a conversation, don’t even have time to think about it.”
I apologize if you were taking a drink when you read that.
He stood up when they started to announce it?!? In a cursory search of YouTube, I don't find a clip of that, so why on earth would he admit it? Probably didn't happen, but still.
As I've been saying, I think the GOP Congressmen who are most forcefully backing and protecting Trump are also implicated in one or another scandal.
Witness, Mitch McConnell...
"If you try to come forward with this, I'm not gonna sign on to any sort of public statement that would condemn Russian interference, but I WILL condemn you and the Obama administration for trying to mess up this election."
Multiple Apprentice employees, including the alleged victim herself, told The Daily Beast that the Academy-Award-nominated actor [Gary Busey] “grabbed” one of their colleagues “firmly between [the] legs” during the 2011 season of Celebrity Apprentice. Busey also forcibly put the female staffer’s hand on the crotch of his pants. The alleged incident, which they say took place during a location shoot in SoHo in New York City, prompted a firestorm among members of the Apprentice crew.
[...]
[They] spoke on the condition of anonymity due to restrictive non-disclosure agreements signed by those involved with the NBC series’s production. The alleged victim, who hadn’t before gone public with her claims, agreed with The Daily Beast to be quoted for this story.
[...]
“And so, a few of the celebrities wanted to do a shot together after we finished [setting up] for the show. We all took a shot together, and then went to stand together for B-roll time.
“We were smoking cigarettes outside, and Busey was standing next to me. And then at one point, he grabbed me firmly between my legs, and ran his hand up my stomach, and grabbed my breasts,” she continued. “I didn’t know what to do. So I made this joke that, ’Oh, I’ve never been sexually harassed by a celebrity before!’
That was her first mistake, but understandable, as she would have probably been out of a job, and women have been steadily reduced to objects - again - since the early days of the feminist movement, judged in American culture by their fuckability, and have little or no cultural back-up for resisting. Maybe that attitude coincides with Wall Street deregulation and rampant greed, not to mention the Bill Clinton years. At any rate, we're a long way from the 70's in terms of women's liberation. Back to something before the 60's. Hey, women got a whole decade of respect. They should be grateful and STFU.
Perhaps Gary had been told by Trump that when you're a star, you can do those kinds of things, just as he'd told Billy Bush. Or perhaps Gary Busey is just as big a bellicose sexual predator as Trump.
Then he grabbed my hand and put it [over] his penis, and said, like, ‘I’m just getting started, baby.’”
Perhaps that wouldn't have happened had she kneed him in the groin after his initial assault.
She added, “Then my friend jumped in between [me and Busey] and put his hand on Busey’s chest.”
I'm glad somebody did. And I hope that young girls are being taught now that knees to the groin or lawsuits are appropriate under theses circumstances.
She also said that Trump would say “gross things all the time” during The Apprentice, and that the atmosphere of Trump Tower was “a disgusting place to work” due to the high frequency of sexual harassment.
[...]
“There was a moment where [Busey] basically grabbed her tits, and grabbed her hand [and] put it on his package there,” a staffer who witnessed the incident told The Daily Beast.
[...]
“He said something lewd to her and then started grabbing at her,” another staffer who was told of the incident at the time said. “Everyone was talking about it outside for a while. There was a lot of talk about it… The producers never made anything of it."
[...]
[The alleged victim] was disturbed by the alleged incident, and her friends and colleagues on the series were furious. Some staffers asked for Busey to be kicked off the show, and the internal dissent grew loud enough that producers and management were all briefed on the incident. The news made it all the way up the chain of command, multiple sources told The Daily Beast, and made its way to Trump’s ear. The real-estate mogul ultimately gave Busey little more than a chuckle and a soft slap on the wrist. (Busey was allowed to remain on the show for the duration of the season—until he was “fired” and came in sixth place.)
[...]
"Gary, did you do a bad thing… [and] got your hands where they’re not supposed to be,” the Apprentice staff member recalls Trump as saying, noting that the two of them were “yucking” it up as Trump was supposedly disciplining him. Another staffer recalled Trump calling Busey a “bad boy, a very bad boy.”
“Trump knew, he definitely knew,” another Apprentice staffer said. “I was in the control room when that happened.”
By: GARANCE BURKE (AP)
NEW YORK (AP) — In his years as a reality TV boss on "The Apprentice," Donald Trump repeatedly demeaned women with sexist language, according to show insiders who said he rated female contestants by the size of their breasts and talked about which ones he'd like to have sex with.
The Associated Press interviewed more than 20 people — former crew members, editors and contestants — who described crass behavior by Trump behind the scenes of the long-running hit show, in which aspiring capitalists were given tasks to perform as they competed for jobs working for him.
[...]
Interviewed separately, they gave concurring accounts of inappropriate conduct on the set.
[...]
Eight former crew members recalled that he repeatedly made lewd comments about a camerawoman he said had a nice rear, comparing her beauty to that of his daughter, Ivanka.
Yes, he is that disgusting. If you've been reading YWA or other sources that have reported on his comments about his daughter, you know that's pretty much par for his course. But, if you're that disgusting toward apparently all women, why would your daughter be left out?
Contestant Poppy Carlig, who performed the twirl, said she considered Trump's request "playful banter." She added: "I don't immediately jump to the conclusion that people are having bad intentions with what they are saying. He said I reminded him of his daughter and I thought that was really touching because I know how much he values his family."
Jesus.
Former producer Katherine Walker said Trump frequently talked about women's bodies during the five seasons she worked with him and said he speculated about which female contestant would be "a tiger in bed."
A former crew member who signed a non-disclosure agreement and asked not to be identified, recalled that Trump asked male contestants whether they would sleep with a particular female contestant, then expressed his own interest.
"We were in the boardroom one time figuring out who to blame for the task, and he just stopped in the middle and pointed to someone and said, 'You'd f... her, wouldn't you? I'd f... her. C'mon, wouldn't you?'"
The person continued: "Everyone is trying to make him stop talking, and the woman is shrinking in her seat."
[...]
"If there was a break in the conversation, he would then look at one of the female cast members, saying 'you're looking kind of hot today, I love that dress on you,' then he would turn to one of the male cast members and say 'wouldn't you sleep with her?' and then everyone would laugh," said a former crew member who spoke on condition of anonymity because of a non-disclosure agreement. "There would be about 10 or 12 cameras rolling and getting that footage, which is why everybody was like, this guy just doesn't care."
[...]
NBC, which broadcast the hit series, referred questions to executive producer Mark Burnett, whose studio referred calls to a public relations firm. The public relations firm did not respond to multiple voicemails and emails seeking comment. AP previously asked Burnett to provide original footage for review, but those calls were not returned.
Of course Trump will just keep calling all these people liars, and...boys will be boys, eh Melania?
