Mark Burnett, MGM, and NBC are facing mounting pressure to address questions about Donald Trump‘s behavior during his years on “The Apprentice” in the wake of Friday’s release of the explosive hot-mic recording from 2005 featuring Trump making lewd remarks about forcing himself on women.
Many media and political circles are calling on Burnett and MGM to release any “Apprentice” archival footage that would shed light on the character of Trump, the Republican candidate for president.
The scrutiny of Trump’s “Apprentice” tenure comes amid a whirlwind of events since the audio recording tied to a 2005 segment on NBC’s “Access Hollywood” was revealed by the Washington Post on Friday evening. The outrage generated by the recording has sparked an exodus of GOP leaders from supporting the Trump campaign during the past 48 hours, gravely threatening the viability of his candidacy just four weeks before Election Day.
Great moment: @GaranceBurke, seeking sources for "Apprentice" tapes, gave out her email address on @ReliableSources https://t.co/F8yiuF447u
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) October 9, 2016
But Trump isn’t the only person feeling the heat. Burnett, the uber-producer of reality hits and creator of “The Apprentice,” is coming under increasing fire from pundits and the public for his silence on Trump. The producer has refused to comment on Trump’s politics.
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In light of the “Access Hollywood” revelations, many are reading that silence as Burnett’s effort to protect the Republican nominee. NBC is under fire for failing to reveal the newsworthy “Access Hollywood” material earlier in the campaign and for the presumption that the network tolerated sexist behavior from Trump because “Apprentice” was a hit. Trump hosted 14 cycles of “Apprentice” and “Celebrity Apprentice” from 2004 through early 2015.
Burnett in past presidential cycles has been a prominent donor to Democratic candidates and to the Democratic National Committee. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Burnett’s Mark Burnett Productions has donated $550 this presidential cycle to the DNC.
MGM now owns the rights to “The Apprentice” and its spinoff, “Celebrity Apprentice,” after buying Burnett’s One Three Media banner in two stages in 2014 and 2015.
Reps for MGM did not respond to multiple requests for comment on Saturday and Sunday. Burnett, through a spokeswoman, declined to comment.
Complicating the situation for Burnett is the fact that former “Apprentice” staffers are surfacing via social media with claims that there is plenty of damaging material to be found in “Apprentice” outtakes.
Bill Pruitt, a producer on the first two seasons of the show, said via Twitter on Saturday that there are recordings of Trump making “far worse” statements than the “Access Hollywood” hot-mic comments that have caused an uproar.
As a producer on seasons 1 & 2 of #theapprentice I assure you: when it comes to the #trumptapes there are far worse. #justthebegininng
— Bill Pruitt (@billpruitt) October 8, 2016
Another reality TV vet, Christine Nee, stirred much online chatter by asserting that Burnett’s standard employment contacts include a $5 million fine for staffers who leak material about his shows. That’s not surprising, given the need to maintain secrecy around the outcome of reality-competition series.
As Trump prepares to face off against his Democratic challenger, Hillary Clinton, in Sunday’s presidential debate, it’s clear that the scrutiny of his reality TV career is only going to increase as the Nov. 8 election draws near.
