Former ‘Apprentice’ producer alleges Trump used N-word to refer to Black contestant

CNN —

A producer for “The Apprentice” is claiming that former President Donald Trump used the N-word during the show’s filming — and it was recorded on camera.

Bill Pruitt, a former show producer, wrote in a piece published Thursday by Slate that Trump used the word to describe Kwame Jackson, a Black finalist on the first season of “The Apprentice,” which aired in 2004.

Pruitt wrote that he was one of four producers involved in the show’s first two seasons — and that he signed a nondisclosure agreement carrying a potential fine of $5 million that he says expired this year.

His claim repeats an allegation that has circulated for years. Omarosa Manigault Newman, a former “Apprentice” contestant and Trump White House aide, claimed in 2018, as she was promoting her book, that she’d heard a tape of Trump using the racist term. CNN has not independently confirmed the existence of the tape.

Responding to the allegation at the time, Trump tweeted, “I don’t have that word in my vocabulary, and never have.”

Pruitt wrote that Trump used the word while discussing, on camera, Jackson’s performance, including his handling of Manigault Newman, with showrunner Jay Bienstock, Trump employee Carolyn Kepcher and other producers, including Pruitt.

The conversation was focused on who would win the show’s first season.

Pruitt wrote: “‘Yeah,’ he says to no one in particular, ‘but, I mean, would America buy a n— winning?’”

He added that Trump “is serious, and he is adamant about not hiring Jackson.”

Jackson would ultimately lose “The Apprentice” to fellow contestant Bill Rancic.

Pruitt wrote, “Afterward, we film the final meeting in the boardroom, where Jackson and Rancic are scrutinized by Trump, who, we already know,