https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/07/12/nbc-not-donald-trump-decided-who-got-fired-on-the-apprentice-says-clay-aiken/
NBC, not Donald Trump, decided who got fired on ‘The Apprentice,’ says Clay Aiken
By Martha Ross | mross@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: July 12, 2017 at 6:36 am | UPDATED: July 12, 2017 at 7:26 am
Donald Trump probably won his shot at the presidency by starring on the reality TV show, “The Apprentice,” where he expanded his brand as the frank businessman able to make tough decisions by decisively eliminating contestants with his signature catchphrase “You’re fired.”
But this news may come as no surprise to many: much of what was depicted on this reality show wasn’t, well, real. Those dramatic corporate boardroom scenes at the end of each episode were staged, and Trump didn’t actually decide who and when to fire, according to former “Celebrity Apprentice” contestant Clay Aiken.
“He didn’t make those decisions, he didn’t fire those people,” said Clay Aiken, 38, who competed on the show in 2012 and was also a contestant on “American Idol.”
Aiken’s takeaway on Trump and the show? The future leader of the free world wasn’t the businessman he was perceived to be on TV. In fact, he pretty much a puppet, and the producers called the shots.
“Trump didn’t decide who got fired on Apprentice, I mean, NBC made those decisions,” Aiken said.
Aiken says Trump was fed lines and notes by producers through a dummy phone.
“There used to be a little thing right on his desk that looked like a phone — he pretended it was a phone — but it was actually a teleprompter where the producers were sending him notes,” said Aiken. “He didn’t know that people were getting in fights during the week while we were doing these tasks, the producers did. And they’d send him notes and he’d say, ‘Oh you two didn’t get along.’”
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