According to NBC, Arnold Schwarzenegger is leaving The Celebrity Apprentice after one season, blaming President Trump for the show’s “baggage.”
Schwarzenegger stated that he enjoyed working with NBC and Mark Burnett and that he would do so again with every single member of the cast, qualifying each of them with a 10 in work ethic.
Nonchalantly, the reason why the show has earned such bad ratings is because of Trump’s divisive comments and presidential campaign which many classify to be based on racism and nationalism.
He also publicly mocked Schwarzenegger for scoring low ratings and refusing to endorse his campaign. Schwarzenegger spoke against the controversial ban against Muslim travelers and just two weeks after assuming office, Trump taunted Schwarzenegger by saying that he performed poorly as governor and an even worse in The New Celebrity Apprentice.
Trump left his mark on The Celebrity Apprentice
According to the former California governor, with the President being partially involved in the show, people have come to dislike it and refusing to participate as participants or sponsors in any way. This led Schwarzenegger to terminate the contract as the show’s host.
He also revealed that Trump remained as an executive producer, which repelled people from watching the show, and even attracting boycotts because it produced profits for the now-President of the United States.
Even though Schwarzenegger does not think that the show will move on, NBC chairman Bob Greenblatt thinks otherwise, expecting The Apprentice to continue without Schwarzenegger at the chair.
“The credit issue doesn’t reach an audience, really. They’re not staying away from the show because he’s involved in it, nor are they coming to it because he’s involved in it. It’s a non-issue,” he stated, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Trump’s position on the show is controversial at most, seeing that he had a significant stake in the show and director Mark Burnett was fully aware of it. The details became public back in November when the former President-elect announced that he would leave his business affairs to his children to focus on the presidency. Trump would cease appearing on the series, which was rather obvious when he announced his candidacy in 2015, then Schwarzenegger stepped in as a replacement.
The New Celebrity Apprentice premiered on January 2, 2017, and stopped airing on February 13, with American Ninja Warrior’s host Matt Iseman as a winner. Participants included singer Boy George, Porsha Williams from The Real Housewives of Atlanta, comedian Jon Lovitz, and Jersey Shore’s Snooki. On the other hand, the adviser board included multimillionaire investor Warren Buffett, Tyra Banks, and Jessica Alba. Curiously, besides changing the host, the “you’re fired” catchphrase was changed to “you’re terminated.”
During the announcement, it was stated that NBC would not keep paying President Trump his fee as an executive producer, but Trump’s name would keep appearing after the director’s and on top of Schwarzenegger’s. Amid the controversy, Kellyanne Conway defended Trump keeping his title as executive producer, claiming that even presidents are allowed to do things on their spare time.
A campaign fueled by divisive politics
The Celebrity Apprentice episode was just one of many in Trump’s decaying relationship with NBC, which ultimately turned for the worst as he got closer to the presidency. Back in June 2015, the TV network announced to be ending its business relationship with Trump, but not because of him becoming a politician, but because his statements concerning immigrants.
As a repercussion, NBC would cease to air the Miss U.S.A. and Miss Universe Pageants, which are a “joint venture between NBC and Trump.”
According to Trump, the network did not want him to run for president but instead wanted him to keep hosting the show.
“With my statements on immigration — which happen to be correct — they are going to take a different stance and that’s OK. Whatever they want to do is OK with me. As far as ending the relationship, I have to do that because my view on immigration is much different than the people at NBC,” he stated as a response.
The breaking of ties does not stop there, as NBC’s actions after Univision proceeded the same way just days before the decision, ending business relations with the President based on his comments related to Mexican immigrants. Trump responded by saying that they had “no termination rights whatsoever.”
The most corrosive speech on Mexican immigrants delivered by Trump included him saying that Mexico does not send their best, but their worst. He claimed that illegal Mexican immigrants had lots of problems and those problems were being carried over to the U.S., making it the “dumping ground for everybody’s else’s problems.” There, he struck a high note claiming that the only things that Mexicans bring are crime and rape, although he could “assume” some are good people.
Source: Politico