Donald Trump To Keep ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ Executive Producer Credit
President-elect Donald Trump will retain an executive producer credit on NBC and producer MGM’s reality series The New Celebrity Apprentice when it returns January 2 with a new host, according to sources close to the show.
The exec producer credit for Trump on the upcoming season of Celebrity Apprentice has not been made public. While he was host, Trump had been listed as an executive producer in official press materials for the NBC reality series. But an August press release announcing the premiere date for the new season — in which former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is now atop the boardroom — featured a list of executive producers that did not include Trump. Those names were creator Mark Burnett, Schwarzenegger, Page Feldman and Eric Van Wagenen.
Trump was the star of the original Celebrity Apprentice which has run seven seasons. A sitting President being paid an exec producer credit on a TV show is one of several potential conflicts of interests that exist for Trump as he transitions from being a businessman and reality star to becoming the 45th President of the United States.
As producing studio, MGM pays producer fee, which typically are in the low-five-figure range per episode for an executive producer on a successful show like Celebrity Apprentice.
The new version of Celebrity Apprentice — and 15th overall for the Apprentice franchise — features competitors Laila Ali, Brooke Burke-Charvet, Eric Dickerson, Boy George, Matt Iseman, Carrie Keagan, Carson Kressley, Lisa Leslie, Jon Lovitz, Vince Neil, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, Kyle Richards, Chael Sonnen, Porsha Williams, Ricky Williams and Carnie Wilson.
NBC will premiere the new Celebrity Apprentice at 8 PM on January 2, with the show originating for the first time from Los Angeles.
Deadline’s sister site Variety first reported the news.
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