Donald Trump remaining executive producer on new Celebrity Apprentice
Entertainment Weekly
Updated
Donald Trump is slamming reports about his ongoing Celebrity Apprentice producing credit as "fake news." Tweeting early Saturday morning, the president-elect criticized stories that made it sound as if he will be actively involved in the reality hit going into its 15th season on NBC. As first reported on Thursday, Trump is retaining his executive producer credit on the show he departed. "I have NOTHING to do with The Apprentice except for fact that I conceived it with [Mark Burnett] & have a big stake in it. Will devote ZERO TIME!" he wrote. The president-elect added in a second tweet, "Reports by CNN that I will be working on The Apprentice during my Presidency, even part time, are rediculous [sic] & untrue -- FAKE NEWS!" I have NOTHING to do with The Apprentice except for fact that I conceived it with Mark B & have a big stake in it. Will devote ZERO TIME!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 10, 2016 Trump later deleted that follow-up tweet (screenshot above), and reposted it with the correct spelling of "ridiculous." Reports by @CNN that I will be working on The Apprentice during my Presidency, even part time, are ridiculous & untrue - FAKE NEWS!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 10, 2016 EW's initial story on the matter actually made it clear that Trump wasn't likely to have any creative involvement on the show. Typically when a founding executive producer exits a TV show, they retain their credit and residuals even while having no active involvement -- so Trump keeping this credit is not unusual at all for a producer. It's only raising an eyebrow in this case because the president-elect is under some pressure to divest in any business enterprise that could be seen as a conflict of interest while he's in the White House. The idea Trump might continue working on the show while he's president, however, was actually suggested by his own prominent spokesperson, Kellyanne Conway, who inspired a flurry of headlines on Friday, including on EW, when she told CNN, "The fact is, he is conferring with all kinds of experts to tell him what he is allowed to do and not to do as the President of the United States. And if this is one of the approved activities, then perhaps he’ll consider staying on ... Were we so concerned about the hours and hours and hours spent on the golf course of the current president? Presidents have the right to do things in their spare time or their leisure time. Nobody objects to that." Celebrity Apprentice returns Jan. 2 after two years off the air, with Arnold Schwarzenegger taking over the boardroom.
Next year, the president of the United States will also be on the payroll of a reality TV show.
Donald Trump is expected to retain his executive producer credit on NBC's newly revamped Celebrity Apprentice and receive royalties from the show.
As first reported by Variety, and confirmed to EW by producer MGM, the president-elect will keep his credit on the show that he hosted for 14 seasons. NBC announced that Trump was leaving the series last year after he launched his presidential campaign.
Trump's press secretary Hope Hicks told Politico: "Mr. Trump has a big stake in the show and conceived of it with [executive producer] Mark Burnett ...Additional details regarding his business interests will be shared December 15."
While it might seem odd that Trump would remain a producer on a show that he left, it would actually be far more unusual to lose his credit. Typically, founding executive producers retain their credit throughout a program's run, even if they leave. (And keeping a producer credit does not mean Trump will be involved in the show; the TV landscape is riddled with producer credits that are merely contractual.) Just recently, writer-producer Bryan Fuller departed CBS Access' upcoming Star Trek: Discovery after writing the first two episodes, yet he'll retain his exec producer credit — and that show hasn't even launched yet.
The difference, of course, is that Bryan Fuller wasn't just elected president (as amazing of a prospect as that might be). Trump is being pressured to shed any financial interests that could be conflicts of interest before he takes office.
Celebrity Apprentice returns Jan. 2 after two years off the air, with Arnold Schwarzenegger taking over the boardroom.
Trump, after no time off the air, will take over the White House on Jan. 20.
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