During the election – such an innocent time – there were so many stories about Donald Trump and Mark Burnett. Burnett is the creator/producer of The Apprentice, and he hired Trump for the show and made Trump a profit participant. It was widely believed that Burnett was a Trump supporter (as in, he supported Trump’s candidacy), and it was also widely believed that Burnett had looked the other way for years as Trump sexually harassed female contestants and made racist remarks on-camera. There were calls for Burnett to release unaired footage from the show, because there were anecdotal stories about Trump’s vile behavior and we needed proof.
In the weeks before Election Day, Politico reported that Burnett actually was not a Trump supporter. An unnamed source claimed that Burnett had long been “privately appalled by the mogul’s crudeness” and that “they made a lot of money together. That’s all.” Burnett also released a statement saying: “Given all of the false media reports, I feel compelled to clarify a few points. I am not now and have never been a supporter of Donald Trump’s candidacy. I am NOT ‘Pro-Trump.’ Further, my wife and I reject the hatred, division and misogyny that has been a very unfortunate part of his campaign.” So you would expect Burnett to wash his hands of Trump, right? Wrong. Trump and Mark Burnett are still in business. The sitting president of the United States is going to be the executive producer and profit-participant on the new season of The Apprentice.
Donald Trump will remain an exec producer on NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice,” which is returning Jan. 2 after a two-year hiatus with new host Arnold Schwarzenegger. MGM confirmed to Variety that Trump has retained his EP credit on the series. The president-elect’s status on the 15th season of the reality series that made him a household name has been a question since Trump launched his presidential campaign in June 2015. In the credit sequence, Trump’s name will air after that of “Apprentice” creator Mark Burnett and before Schwarzenegger, who is also an exec producer of the new incarnation along with Page Feldman and Eric Van Wagenen.
The larger issue for MGM, NBC, and the White House is the payment that Trump will receive for the series. It’s unclear what his per-episode fee is, but it is likely to be in the low five-figures, at minimum. NBC has ordered eight episodes of “The New Celebrity Apprentice.” Trump’s fees will be paid through MGM, the production entity on the show, not NBC. MGM declined to comment on the financial terms of Trump’s deal. Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks confirmed that Trump has maintained a financial interest in “Apprentice.”
“Mr. Trump has a big stake in the show and conceived of it with Mark Burnett,” Hicks said. Trump has scheduled a news conference on Dec. 15 in New York to discuss his plans for separating himself from his vast array of business interests after he is sworn is as president.
Again… how is NBC supposed to cover the president when he’s profiting from their programming? This is insane. We will have a sitting president executive producing a reality show on network television. I will say this though – this is a better explanation for why we haven’t gotten the unaired tapes from The Apprentice. It’s not because Mark Burnett doesn’t “own” the tapes. It’s because even though Trump was thrown off The Apprentice as host, he still has a stake in the property and thus, he partially “owns” the tapes of himself allegedly saying racist sh-t and harassing women. Must be nice to own all of the evidence of your vile behavior.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Getty.
Friendly reminder that Billy Bush was fired for giggling, but the man who actually bragged about sexually assaulting women still kept his job and is now the PEOTUS.
Now if you excuse me, I have to go light myself on fire.
NBC needs to cancel that show IMMEDIATELY.
Seriously. What the actual f^%k?
Jenns, I feel ya, but not in a pussy grabbing way.
It’s offensive. How many interns will be molested by Prez Cheeto?
“I feel ya, but not in a pussy grabbing way.” Written on a mental note card & put in my back pocket for future use. Thank you for this small gift today!
Jenns, in sad times you make me laugh. It is that kind of laugh were you don’t know if you laugh or cry, but that what satire is all about!
Everyday there is something else and he hasn’t even taken office. I want to scream.
That is… entirely against the rules.
You still believe in rules? Sad. Bigly sad. *opens wine*
*grabs wine and immediately starts drinking*
And I don’t even drink.
*opens second bottle* I do. And it’s 4 p.m. here so let’s hit it.
Its 5 somewhere *grabs third bottle*
Yeah, as long as the rules are down the tubes, so is my “no drinking” policy.
*grabs a six pack of IPA along with another bottle of wine*
Didn’t you hear? All the rules are being eliminated to create jobs and protect the 2nd amendment or something. Bigly.
*opens bottle of absinthe and box of chocolate truffles while eyeing the gingerbread house on secretary’s desk*
Yesterday I was reading a lot of commenters noting that Trump’s presidency is through a coup and Brannon is preparing his armed militia through armed hate groups, survivor groups and NRA members. Frankly it kind of fits.
Why has Trump really been able to break the rules and get away with it? Are so many Americans really uncaring and uninformed enough to elect him? Russia corrupted the US election successfully through hacking and other means not yet fully understood. Russia groomed Trump for the job of running for president for about five years some reports say. I don’t think it would be too farfetched to suspect Russia even had a hand in helping Trump win the primaries through devious means. Conman Trump proceeded to corrupt political discourse with verbal assaults and barely challenged outright lies much of which was coming from not only his campaign but also Russia. All these issues need examining. The more I think about it the more I believe this entire election cycle was corrupted by foreign entities and a willing partner in Trump. That’s why none of this should ever be normalized.
Of course he is. Don’t all president elects produce reality shows. He would be better off on jeopardy because that’s where he has put us all. Ridiculous.
Let me get this straight. NBC plans to pay the next president a per-episode fee for The Apprentice while its news division reports on him and his administration?
It sounds so sleazy when you put it that way
Is it any surprise that NBC wants to jump in bed with him too??? So many are kissing his ass and afraid to speak out unless they become his next bullying victim.
So very, very scary.
We truly are a Confederacy of Dunces.
“In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.”
That’s a good one
“The day before me is fraught with God knows what horrors.”
If he hadn’t already, John Kennedy Toole would kill himself over the results of this election…. For this particular piece of crap (The Apprentice-gate) what can we do? Certainly we can boycott NBC/Burnett/Drumpf — but maybe we need to do more? How about contacting and boycotting the advertisers? Any other ideas???
Yet another huge conflict of interest, and no one (by “no one,” I mean mainstream media) seems to care. This, combined with Trump’s refusal to set up a blind trust for his business and his vague plans for stepping down from his business (let’s be honest – he’s not going to step down), set a horrible precedent that I don’t think we can ever come back from. The office of POTUS will be tarnished forever. If Trump can utilize his presidency to advance his business interests and increase his personal wealth, what’s to stop future presidents from doing so?
what’s to stop future presidents from doing so?
Actually having morals and ethics, I hope.
What future presidents?
There are not going to be anymore elections. You think these people, who think they’re above the law now, are going to let anything happen to their power and privileges ? The GOP has worked so hard and long to make sure we are a one party only country. Dems are useless. And too many Americans are idiots and cowards to ever stand up to the new Masters. This is it. Pax Romana. Nice idea for a while at least.
I wish I could say I think you’re wrong.
The Republican Party doesn’t care. It’s going to be interesting to see who he brings down when it goes belly up. I’m hoping Jason Chaffetz falls really hard.
Jason E. Chaffetz is the U.S. representative for Utah’s 3rd congressional district, first elected in 2008. He is a member of the Republican Party. He is also the chairman of the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Wikipedia.
This the same man who said he has at least enough material to investigate Hilary Clinton for the first two years had she been elected POTUS.
Yet he has zero plans to investigate any of the ever deepening conflicts of interest In which Trump is engaging daily.
But of course. And, when he inevitably gets rid of Melania, he can produce “The Bachelor: Special White House Edition”.
WHo Wants To Marry the President?
A cross-over with Miss Universe, hosted by Ivanka!
Not me. But I’m sure a good segment of the Deplorables would scramble for the chance.
im done with the whole network if this ends up on air
i know they dont care about me but there is no way i am touching them or any of their advertisers
We are so f*#’d.
I swear, it’s just like that movie ‘Idiocracy’. We are all gonna have dumb-down our intellect just to survive the next 4 years.
I am beginning to understand how evil overtakes the world. It becomes so aggravating and difficult to watch the drip, drip of all its details unfold that eventually it is ignored.
Conman pussygrabbing Trump wants to make NO sacrifices whatsoever. Not even a little drop of sacrifice is acceptable for this snake oil salesman. Like everyone who supports him, he wants his cake and to eat it too. He gets away with it, even gets away with demeaning a Gold Star father who knows what true sacrifice is all about. This is too terrible to contemplate.
Why isn’t Trump in jail for working with Russia to get elected. Is the FBI that supported him going to impeach some of its members who broke the law to put a knife into Hillary. Is the government at least going to see Trump’s taxes for conflicts of interest before giving him keys to the White House and all of its secrets. This is what I want to know. And I want to see the Apprentice tapes come to light. The guy that didn’t even want to be President got to be President running against an accomplished good woman who really took the job seriously and would have been fabulous. Thanks America. I wake up mad every day.
robyn, I feel ya, I wake up bewildered and mad every day, too. That’s if I even managed to sleep at all.
Robyn, I feel the exact same way. I have been consumed by anxiety to the point that I’m breaking out in rashes. I can’t believe it’s only been a month. Truly truly devastated and overcome with fear about the direction our country is headed.
Me too but throw in depression the moment I remember who is PEOTUS
Dear NBC, if you air one second of that show, I will boycott all your divisions AND all your sponsors
My late husband worked for NBC news for over 30 years. I already boycott ALL things NBC.
I bet you’ve got some stories…
@Boodiba – I do indeed. He worked at Rockefeller Center too, not some satellite in FL.
Do tell, please.
Go to their website and click on contact us, programming feedback, then Celebrity Apprentice. I just did and wrote of my boycott decision.
Did it. I also told them that I would boycott every company who advertised on their network and would be contacting those companies to tell them why I was boycotting.
Here is a link: http://www.nbc.com/contact-us
Done!
Did it! Thanks!
Thank you!!! Sent this comment:
Trump is still a producer for The Apprentice & you decided to remake the show rather then pull the plug on your involvement with him so I will seek my news elsewhere to avoid biased reporting.
The PEOTUS has a tenuous relationship w/ the media & you guys share pocketbooks so your reporting can not be unbiased. You are not unbiased in not sharing the information you have on a man who will soon run our country & now I know why- $. You are a shame to journalism.
Kudos on firing Billy Bush.
Done. I will also be calling them later in the day.
Also, contact your local NBC affiliate and let them know too. The local affiliates can feel the pain sooner and more deeply. Some may choose to stand up to the network and air local programming instead of the show.
Sent!
Someone needs to tell Trump that being president is actually a full-time job.
I contacted them and also told them I would be boycotting their satellite networks also.
I dunno. I kind of want The Donald to have other interests than causing international incidents and launching missiles. Keep him
distracted, please.
I saw two previews for the show last night- it’s already barreling down the highway.
You CANNOT be the President of the United States and executive produce a reality show. This kind of fu-ery has to stop. This is the beginning of how the people who voted for him are going to get screwed. He has no intention of really being president. None.
It would be better for ratings if they bring him back as host. Plus, think of the global respect it would earn the U.S.
Maybe they can trick him and tell him he’s going to do a guest appearance, but in reality he’s in a boardroom with all of his advisors briefing him on all things president.
Can someone not put a stop to this, I mean seriously…some voice of reason somewhere…or a voice of class and tact? What the actual F#$K?!
America’s president elect is producing a reality show, and meanwhile his supporters are boycotting a movie about space monks with laser swords and aliens in a galaxy far far away as “un-American”.
What a time to be alive.
Star Wars? Why are they boycotting that?? (do I want to know….?)
Feminist and anti-white, from what I read.
Bizarro world, truth.
What Susanne said. The people who complain that we liberals get offended about every minor thing have, in the last month, been offended by Starbucks, cereal, Target, a play, Oreos, and Star Wars.
Nina- Oreos? I missed that one. Tell!
@Rapunzel – Trumpkins were calling for an Oreo boycott because Nabisco is moving some Oreo production to Mexico.
Please understand how disenfranchised and oppressed these people are.
For Christmas, my family members are all getting packages of Oreos, boxes of Rick Krispies, Starbucks coffee, gift certificates to Target, and tickets to Rogue One.
My sister made some sort of Rice Krispies treat concoction with crushed Oreos and coffee and brought it to her Trump supporting in-laws Christmas party.
Are those idiots going to boycott trump and ivanka because their crap is made in China, Indonesia and Mexico?
Is this real life?!?
Is this a fantasy?!
I don’t know anymore and that scares me. But nice reply. 😃
Caught in a landslide… no escape from reality.
Fraught with conniving, no escape from reality (tv).
Dry up your eyes, punch him in the prize and scream!
(I do not endorse violence. I am simply writing in the spirit of our PEOTUS. Signed – one who could be “grabbed”)
Well, I mean, starting January 20, he was gonna executive produce one reality show anyway so why not make it two
Brilliant post.
To lighten our day: did anyone else ever feel that Obi-wan had a secret crush on Amidala in parts 2 and 3?
I did. Ha, I thought I was the only one who shipped Obi-wan and Amidala.
Co-sign Obi Wan and Amidala!
Contact NBC directly and make your case that you’ll boycott NBC and all if it’s affiliates if they schedule a new Celeb Apprentice. It’s very easy to do as I just did it.
Link to complain directly to NBC: http://www.nbc.com/contact-us you can even select specifically to complain about this award winning show 🙄
What fresh level of f-ckery is this? Did we somehow shift into an alternate dimension? Or maybe this is the apocalypse. Not a single catastrophic even but a gradual slide into entropy. I don’t even live in the USA and yet this man offends me on every level. I can’t drink because of my blood pressure and I’ve had bad reaction to weed. Can anyone suggest some alternative calming methods?
The pit in the bottom of the stomach cannot be medicated during waking hours. Nothing works except a total blackout of his face or reading news about him. Then I can go into denial for a while.
Binge watch multiple seasons of the Apprentice until your IQ drops…..oh, wait…..
Try the weed again. Xanax works, but is not safe over time.
Meditation, walks. Buddhist podcasts about letting go. Primal screaming. Lots of herbal tea and blankies and british dramas on tv.
How is this okay, the POTUS executive-producing a reality TV series?
It isn’t. My only comfort is that by condoning this, surely the GOP is ceding its phony moral high ground. The next time they try to destroy a democratic candidate by whining about emails or where they were born, they are going to be laughed out of the room as everyone throws the orange troll back in their faces.
He does know that he may be rather busy presidenting?
On the other hand, it’s probably for the best if he spends as little time worrying his pretty little head about matters of state as possible.
I seriously think he believes that the presidency is like a chairman of the board position and he can go about his normal life and show up once a quarter for a board meeting. He didn’t know Obama’s staff wouldn’t stay and that he has to hire thousands of people to replace them, he didn’t know he would have to move to Washington and he didn’t know he would have to give up his plane or his businesses
According to my (historian) husband: the FFs (founding fathers) tried to guard against a tyrant, they never thought to guard against a shyster.
NBC: Home of suck-ups Matt Lauer and Jimmy Fallon. Here are some news contacts (let’s support Katy Tur, JoyAnn Reid, Rachel Maddow…) for your activism pleasure:
NBC/MSNBC 212-664-4444 STEVE BURKE-CEO, DEBORAH TURNESS president, NBC News, ANDREW LACK Chairman of NBCUniversal News Group
Tweet: @NBCpolitics, @NBCNews @TODAYshow @ChuckTodd @MeetThePress @MTP @NBCnightlynews @hardballChris @BWilliams @ MitchellReports, @Maddow @chrislhayes @lawrence @TamronMSNBC @KatyTurNBC @JoyAnnReid @kwelkernbc @morning_joe @MattLauer
Trevor Noah did a segment comparing our South African president to Donald Trump. I am now starting to think Noah was unfair to Jacob Zuma. Our opposition, courts, press and even members of Zuma’s own party have made significant attempts to hold him accountable. Honest question, do you see anyone doing the same to Donald Trump? He has already gotten away with sooo much so far. How is this possible?
Did you hear that the Women’s march is being blocked now?
If this is true then Democracy is indeed unraveling right before our eyes.
The march (and all protests during and in the days after the inauguration) have been barred from the Lincoln Memorial, Pennsylvania Ave and the National Mall. So far no permits have been given either.
We will still march. Permit or no permit.
We’re doing the Boston march.
I’m wondering if we will have a march in rochester, ny, where susan b anthony and frederick douglas are both buried.
Exactly why I’ve been referring to him as President Snow. This is some Hunger Games Capitol level nonsense!
As a woman, I feel personally assaulted by Trump’s campaign and all the verbal abuse and hateful rhetoric and deeds. The fact that he actually “won” with the help of KKK, Russia and Comey among others, is a slap in the face to all the groups he insulted and the world. America was a big player in the world but now the environment and Democracy are in danger and women understand their place in society again. I can’t even put a tic tac in my mouth without gagging.
This feels like smoke and mirrors. The even bigger story is that Linda McMahon, one of the biggest donor to his fraudulent foundation and a super pac supporting him, just got a cabinet post as head of the Small Business Administration.
interesting!
JK3- Yes!! The Linda McMahon thing is totally pay for play. She bought her position. And small businesses will suffer. The WWE which she used to be CEO of, doesn’t believe in unions, doesn’t take proper safety with its wrestlers, unless forced, and is a monopoly corp. That has run small businesses out of business! Disgusting!
People honestly question how the German people could have allowed Hitler to first win an election (1930) and then conglomerate it into a dictatorship (1933).
This is how.
Eric,
We’re definitely seeing that, only now we have access to the history of Nazi Germany, mass media, the internet… One has to work really hard now to be an uninformed idiot. But here we are.
I can’t believe how NBC is going to allow this. I understand there is a news division and an entertainment division under the umbrella of NBC, but this is a huge potential conflict of interest as far as fairly covering Trump as POTUS.
He wanted to be president of the United States. Only, he can’t be bothered to take daily intelligence briefings like other presidents, instead only once a week, but he wants to executive produce Celebrity Apprentice? Wow.
Oh! I just realized– this explains why he keeps tweeting about SNL!! He’s intentionally giving their show publicity and ratings!! His tweets are manufactured not to distract, but to help NBC!!! It all makes sense now!
I’m so disgusted! I still can’t believe this is happening!
King Donald, this is just one big circus and we are seated ringside.
This is not normal!
Trump will do The Apprentice in his spare time.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/09/politics/conway-defends-trump-apprentice/index.html
Just when you think it couldn’t get any worse…
I have little doubt that FLOTUS, M̶e̶l̶a̶n̶i̶a̶ Ivanka, will participate in the show to support, Trump.
He is so CORRUPT, a disgrace and a national embarrassment.
YAAAS! I LOVE America!!!!
Dear USA,
What in the F*CK is going on down there??!?
Your worried neighbour,
Canada
Mayhem. We will eventually get through this hell. Please pray for us.
The Republican party introduced legislation in committee today to destroy Social Security. The dismantling of the United States has begun.
What?!!!
I usually prefer primary source documents, like the actual House bill, but this is a good summary of what they are proposing. It also sounds to me like Sam Johnson does not know the difference between SSI, SSDJ, and Old Age retirement benefits but I have found that such ignorance is quite common in the House of Representatives. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/top-house-republican-social-security-cuts_us_584b1bb8e4b0e05aded3ff3c
No. They can’t be allowed to do this. What do they think people are going to do??
Loving how hysterical you Dems have become over Trump. Now you know how us Greens feel after every election. Sucks, doesn’t it?
Soon, the hysterics will not be limited to US Dems and gloating will be nothing but a cheap consolation for not voting for HRC. This campaign against DOE employees is just the beginning of the dictator-in-chief’s global assault on climate change deterrence and the global economy.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-department-energy-names-climate-change-list_us_584b2b77e4b04c8e2bb001d4
“The chief function of propaganda is to convince the masses, whose slowness of understanding needs to be given time so they may absorb information; and only constant repetition will finally succeed in imprinting an idea on their mind.”
Hitler in Mein Kampf
He probably doesn’t absolutely have to do anything as Executive Producer. They might be stuck with him because he owns part of the show (if he does). The Arnold will be doing all the stuff The Donald used to do.
complete conflict of interest, but he’ll just do whatever he wants to do anyway. and guess what? nothing, NOTHING will happen.