Former “The Apprentice” Producer Claims Trump Used N-Word on Set

An ex “The Apprentice” producer claims that former President Donald Trump used the N-word during the show’s filming, and that it was caught on camera.

Bill Pruitt, who worked on the first two seasons of the show, wrote in a piece published by Slate that Trump used the racial slur to describe Kwame Jackson, a Black finalist on the first season of “The Apprentice” in 2004.

Pruitt, who signed a nondisclosure agreement with a potential $5 million fine that expired this year, repeated an allegation that has circulated for years. In 2018, Omarosa Manigault Newman, a former contestant on the show and a Trump White House aide, claimed she had heard a tape of Trump using the term while promoting her book.

Responding to the allegation at the time, Trump tweeted, “I don’t have that word in my vocabulary, and never have.”

Pruitt wrote that Trump used the slur while discussing Jackson’s performance with showrunner Jay Bienstock, Trump employee Carolyn Kepcher, and other producers, including Pruitt. The conversation was focused on deciding the winner of the first season.

Pruitt quoted Trump as saying, “‘Yeah,’ he says to no one in particular, ‘but, I mean, would America buy a n— winning?’” He added that Trump was serious and adamant about not hiring Jackson. Jackson ultimately lost to fellow contestant Bill Rancic.

Pruitt detailed how the final meeting was filmed, scrutinizing Jackson and Rancic, knowing Trump favored Rancic. He noted that there was no discussion about Trump’s comments, despite the evidence being caught on tape. “Nothing happens,” he wrote.

Trump’s campaign has denied Pruitt’s claims. “This is a completely fabricated and bullshit story that was already peddled in 2016,” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said. “Nobody took it seriously then, and they won’t now, because it’s fake news. Now that Crooked Joe Biden and the Democrats are losing the election, they are bringing up old fake stories from the past because they are desperate.”

Pruitt also described Trump commenting on female camera operators’ looks. He claimed Trump ordered one woman off an elevator, saying she was “too heavy,” and compared another’s looks to his daughter Ivanka Trump’s. “There’s a beautiful woman behind that camera,” Trump reportedly said. “That’s all I want to look at.”

Pruitt described the show as a “long con” that elevated Trump “from sleazy New York tabloid hustler to respectable household name.” He wrote that the show misled viewers about Trump’s wealth, stature, character, and intent, contributing to an American fraud that grew beyond the creators’ wildest imaginations.