Controversies
Whereas winners have been named "executive vice presidents", and given the title of "owner's representative," in actuality, they were employed as publicity spokespeople for the Trump organization. Second season winner Kelly Perdew, on his first day working for Trump, was introduced by his boss to Florida developers working on a Trump-branded condo, the Trump Tower, in Tampa, Florida, where he was told that he would help promote sales of the building by appearing at promotional events.
In the wake of Trump's statements about the current president of the United States, Barack Obama, The Apprentice has been criticized for its involvement with Trump. There have been public calls for NBC to fire Trump from his role on The Apprentice – most notably from sister-network liberal political commentator Lawrence O'Donnell and from the former US Congressman Anthony Weiner. O'Donnell also criticized Trump when rumored to run for President for having a problem with women electing him if did run for President, and for having more men winning The Apprentice than women.
Industry media has speculated on the extent to which Trump's media comments may have contributed to the decrease in the show's ratings, as other Trump-associated businesses have suffered since the start of Trump's political campaign. On April 28, 2011, show sponsor Groupon publicly announced that it would no longer do business with The Apprentice. One (anonymous) Celebrity Apprentice contestant even announced an intention to boycott the May 15 taping of the season 7 finale, unless forced by contract to appear.
Read more about this topic: The Apprentice (U.S. TV Series)