Source: Fulton County Jail / Fulton County Sheriff’s Office
A former producer for Donald Trump’s show The Apprentice has spoken out about his appealing behavior behind the scenes.
A new column from a former producer on Donald Trump’s reality show The Apprentice has shed more light on the former president’s nature. Bill Pruitt, who worked on the NBC show for its first two seasons, said he chose to speak out once his non-disclosure agreement expired this year. He goes on to give a detailed look at his experiences and Trump’s true behavior on set which included casual racism and sexist comments. Pruitt writes that while there wasn’t initial intent to delude viewers, “if you were one of the 28 million who tuned in, chances are you were conned.”
Pruitt would recount several situations from working on The Apprentice in 2004, with one situation involving the Black contestant Kwame Jackson. When it was suggested that he had a shot at winning, Trump “winced” before saying in an off-handed way, “Yeah, but, I mean, would America buy a n— winning?” while other producers were present. “There is no discussion about what Trump said in the boardroom, about how the damning evidence was caught on tape. Nothing happens,” Pruitt writes, recalling that Trump was still insistent on not hiring Jackson.
Other incidents described by Pruitt involve how Trump would display derogatory language regarding women. In one situation during filming at Trump Tower, he’s described as ordering a woman who was operating one of the cameras off the elevator, saying “She’s too heavy.” Another female camera operator with blue eyes and blonde hair is leered at by Trump, who compares her to ex-wife Ivana and says, “There’s a beautiful woman behind that camera” before adding, “That’s all I want to look at.”
Pruitt also provides an account of Trump not paying his bills in full, through a conversation that he had with an architect who worked on one of the clubhouses at his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey. “It’s bittersweet. I’m very proud of this place, but I wasn’t paid what was promised. Trump pays half upfront but he’ll stiff you for the rest once the project is completed,” the architect says according to Pruitt. “If I tried to sue, the legal bills would be more than what I was owed. He knew that. He basically said ‘Take what I’m offering.‘”