5 Ways in Which Donald Trump 'Violated' Rules of His Reality TV Show, 'The Apprentice'
The Innumerous Times Donald Trump Broke the Rules on The Apprentice
Donald Trump had openly violated several rules of the reality television show The Apprentice. Variety's Editor-in-Chief Ramin Setoodeh detailed it all in the new book, Apprentice in Wonderland: How Donald Trump and Mark Burnett Took America Through the Looking Glass, which explores Trump's role in the reality television show before becoming the 45th president of the United States. The NBC reality series made Trump a household name. But here are some of the unknown revelations behind The Apprentice's scenes as reported by The Things.
1. Trump Broke the 'Golden' Rule
The 'golden rule' of any reality show prohibits the host or the judge from meeting the contestants of an ongoing reality show. However, Trump didn't oblige, and this is something Setoodeh also wrote about in his book: "(Trump) violated the golden rule of reality TV: never get too close to the contestants." [He would] "regularly invite them over to his office, simply to hang out. They all had the ability to reach him. All they had to do was call his assistant."
2. Trump Would Allegedly Hit on a Contestant Incessantly
Season 4 winner Randal Pinkett later opened up after the conclusion of the season and stated that Trump was very much into another contestant Jennifer Murphy. "It was mostly among the men [on the show], where he’d say, 'Oh, she’s hot. Oh, I’d love to sleep with her.' Jennifer Murphy —t hat’s who he’d talk about.' There’s no place for those conversations in a business context," Pinkett said while adding, "It was unacceptable." The author added that Trump "enlisted the fired contestants as his helpers long before the first episode of The Apprentice aired, back when they were still being held without their wallets in New York City hotel rooms during production."
3. Stormy Daniels Suggested That Trump Tried Rigging The Show
Stormy Daniels revealed that Trump offered her a chance in The Apprentice and even suggested that she would go a long way if she asked for it. "We’ll figure out a way to get you the challenges beforehand. And we can devise your technique," Daniels wrote in her tell-all book. "He was going to have me cheat, and it was 100 percent his idea," she added, as reported by The Guardian. The alleged cheating claims made by the adult star posed a question about the authenticity of the show itself.
4. Trump Used The N Word in Season 1
According to a contestant from season 1, Kwame Jackson, Trump had openly used the N-word on the show. According to People, Trump allegedly questioned if Jackson's win would be accepted by the Americans. "Yeah, but I mean, would America buy a n----- winning?" he said. Steven Cheung, the spokesperson of Trump's campaign, retaliated by saying, "This is a completely fabricated and bulls--- story that was already peddled in 2016. Nobody took it seriously then, and they won’t now, because it’s fake news."
5. Trump Blamed Arnold Schwarzenegger for Ruining The Apprentice
Trump reportedly pointed fingers at Arnold Schwarzenegger after he was replaced by the Hollywood star for the show. "Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t voluntarily leaving The Apprentice, he was fired by his bad (pathetic) ratings, not by me. Sad end to [a] great show," Trump tweeted back then after Schwarzenegger left the show. In his defense, The Terminator star said, 'It’s not about the show… because everyone I ran into came up to me and said ‘I love the show… but I turned it off because as soon as I read Trump’s name I’m outta there!"
