It sounds like a lot of people owe Tom Arnold an apology…
No, the infamous N-word tape has not made its way to light, but everything else he’s been saying about his former friend Donald Trump was corroborated on Thursday morning.
Related: We Translated Mattis’ Resignation Letter For Trump
In an oral history of the rather extraordinary way reality TV led to the presidency, The New Yorker spoke to former staffers on The Apprentice — and based on the heat of the tea they’re spilling, it sounds like Trump was a mess even by reality TV standards!
Get the scoop (below)!
Casting Trump
First, Trump was chosen to play the role of a big CEO. Mark Burnett wanted to replicate his Survivor success in an urban environment and needed not a successful New York billionaire but someone to play one on TV.
Trump had been building his brand for years by stamping his name in gold on everything. It was easy for most Americans to forget most of those endeavors had failed. They just remembered him as the rich guy from Home Alone 2.
So when Burnett rented a skating rink for a Survivor event and saw Trump’s name on it (he did not own Wollman Rink; he was leasing it but put his name on it anyway), he saw an opportunity.
After some effusive flattery, he had his star.
The Glow Up
Trump was NOT the huge success he pretended to be. So producers made him look like one.
Producer Bill Pruitt recalled:
“We walked through the offices and saw chipped furniture. We saw a crumbling empire at every turn. Our job was to make it seem otherwise.”
They created a classy-looking fake boardroom set, constantly set up helicopter rides to and from nowhere to make him seem busy, rented limousines just for the camera, and shot him from low, heroic angles set to dramatic music.
Meanwhile he was scrounging for extra money, urging producers to rent their production space in one of the empty floors of Trump Tower.
They did — and found Trump had screwed so many people, the address made it difficult for them to furnish the new digs.
The Art of the Real
Burnett refused to speak about Trump, as he has since it looked possible the presidential campaign would be successful, but his staffers opened up.
Those who’ve watched The Apprentice know Ivanka and Don Jr. did most of the heavy lifting. Donald just had to come in, give team leaders an atta boy or a dressing down, fire someone, and back to the chopper.
And even THAT he screwed up.
Editor Jonathan Braun revealed Trump was so unprepared for his board meeting scenes, he would get angry or confused and fire the wrong person. And just like now you couldn’t tell Trump he’d screwed up — he wouldn’t accept it.
No, instead they would “reverse engineer” the entire episode, making it look like someone who had done a great job had instead screwed up — so Trump didn’t look like an out-of-touch idiot for firing them.
Braun explained:
“We know each week who has been fired, and, therefore, you’re editing in reverse.”
He also noted how “strangely validating” it was to see the exact same thing happening with those around Trump in the White House.
It’s true. Trump makes a ludicrous decision, and out come Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Kellyanne Conway and Rudy Giuliani to pretend reality had been completely different up to that point.
The Edit
Notice how people point out these days how Trump seems to have lost a step? How he’s less coherent?
Many suggest it’s early stages of dementia. It’s not a totally unreasonable worry; the man is in his 70s.
But the truth is, he’s talked like that for a long time — for years, however, we were only seeing the reality TV edit.
Even then he couldn’t read scripts he was given, couldn’t stick to the simple idea he was supposed to be getting across.
Producer Katherine Walker recalled the jumbled garbage that came out of Trump’s mouth — and how they had to edit carefully just to make sense of it:
“We cleaned it up so that he was his best self.”
It was something Trump himself didn’t notice — because he didn’t realize how nonsensical his words were. She stated:
“I’m sure Donald thinks that he was never edited.”
That certainly sounds like the Trump we know.
If you have the time, we highly recommend the entire piece, which you can find HERE!
[Image via Dennis Van Tine/Future Image/WENN.]
Related Posts
