If there is one thing that Donald Trump loves above all else, it is money. At the time, he was part of the Trump empire that his grandfather allegedly created by running a brothel, as documented in a book titled The Trumps: Three Generations That Built an Empire (The Trumps: three generations who built an empire, editor’s note). Donald Trump then forged his own professional path and ended up participating in the show The Apprentice, broadcast on the American channel NBC. He participated in 14 seasons of the show before leave her to lead a political campaign – Trump’s version of the exit.
Over the years, many people have claimed that he made racist remarks toward people of color on the show and even used a derogatory word towards a black competitor who could have been the winner of season 1.
Donald Trump asked for $6 million per episode to host the second season of The Apprentice
By recounting his time on the famous show, Mr. Trump helped Vanity Fair co-editor Ramin Setoodeh write a book about him. Setoodeh’s book, Apprentice in Wonderland: How Donald Trump and Mark Burnett Took America Through the Looking Glass – details Donald Trump’s experience as a reality show host and its relationship with NBCUniversal.
In an excerpt from the book, scheduled for publication on June 18, Donald Trump revealed that he had demanded the astronomical sum of 6 million dollars for hosting the second season of The Apprentice. According to People magazine, Donald Trump received a salary of $25,000 per episode. However, during the second season, he realized that the hit series FRIENDS, which aired on NBC, was ending, making his show the most watched. Trump came to this conclusion when statistics revealed that The Apprentice had more viewers than reruns of FRIENDS.
It was reported at the time that the FRIENDS cast earned $1 million per episode each. Calculating that his show was making more than theirs, Trump demanded $6 million per episode. He told Setoodeh:
Friends had six people. They each earn $1 million per episode. That’s $6 million. If they get $6 million and I have better ratings than them – because it’s the end of Friends and they were on their way out – I said, “You should pay me 6 million dollars per episode.
The chain naturally rejected his request and threatened to give the show to someone else. The former president thought he was coming of “kill” his career, but then-NBC CEO Jeff Zucker called him a day later to negotiate his salary. The 77-year-old did not reveal the exact amount, but confirmed the channel was paying him “a lot“. He claimed to have earned over $500 million in total for the show.
Was Donald Trump fired from The Apprentice?
After the pay debacle, the partnership between Trump and NBC has been smooth sailing for both parties. He even starred in the spin-off program The Celebrity Apprentice. However, everything collapsed in 2015, when Donald Trump decided to run for president. After announcing his candidacy for president, he also announced that he would be leaving the show, as NBC was “unhappy” of his political ambitions and he could not legally do both, reports Mirror.
In his departure statement, Mr. Trump said:
Executives came to me in my office and said, “Please do this [The Apprentice]”. Actually, legally, I don’t have the right to do that.
However, a day later, NBC released a statement revealing that it had cut all ties with Donald Trump for his vile remarks about Mexico. In one of his speeches, Donald Trump reportedly said that he would build strong borders for the United States so that Mexico would stop sending “rapists, drug dealers and criminals”. NBC released a statement saying that Mr. Trump’s derogatory statements had forced it to end its business relationship with him.
Article translated from Ohmymag.uk
Sources used:
Vanity Fair : Trump calls Jeff Zucker “human trash” and recalls that he was refused $6 million per episode to host “The Apprentice”
People Magazine : Donald Trump asked for $6 million per episode to host The Apprentice, the equivalent of the cumulative salary of the actors of Friends.
Mirror : Why Donald Trump was fired from The Apprentice – and his unexpected replacement
