The May 1st episode of Celebrity Apprenticefeatured an apocalyptic show down between Star Jones and Nene Leakes.
It all started with NeNe telling the camera, “When star did what she did to La Toya [Jackson] in the boardroom, I really was like I want to stay and kick Star’s ass, I am gonna figure it out how am I going to f!#!$ Star up. And I am.”
NeNe agreed to be the project manager for Team A.S.A.P. telling Donald Trump that she knows Star had asked her to lead because Star has “bad intentions” and is being “strategic to throw her under the bus.” NeNe then stared Star down (Star did not look back at NeNe) and said, “It’s all good, It’s all going down!”
Star defended herself to Trump without responding directly to NeNe by saying she thought leading the team would be a good opportunity for NeNe to win money for her charity. NeNe got in Star’s face as Star stared to back away. “You did not think that and you did not say that. I know how you think, I know how you play the game,” NeNe yelled in Star’s face. “This is not The Real Housewives,” Star said as she kept backing away and looking at the Trumps to stop the madness. “Who are you to step in and tell someone when to be project manager, who are you? I will take you down while the rest of these girls will look at you and be scared,” NeNe shouted.
“I’m the girl that is not scared. You pressed the last button in me Ms. Star Jones and I will do what the rest of these girls won’t!” She then called Hope Star’s “puppet.” “Wow!” is all Star could say, now having put Hope and Marlee Matlin Matlin safely in between her and NeNe. So she thought. BUT, NeNe said she wanted to stand on Star’s side now too and came over and started harassing Star again.
Trump asked how this all started. NeNe said it started from the beginning but that she was going to put a stop to the “bullshit manipulation.” Meat Loaf looked like he was going to die of discomfort and the other two ladies just stood there motionless, staring at Trump.
NeNe would not let up. “You talk a good game, now bring your street game cause that’s what I am bringing. Now where is Barbara Walters, Ms. ‘I am so educated!’ How educated are you on the street?” Lil Jon finally interrupted and said. “It’s getting hot in here!” That ended the madness. Temporarily.
Star explained to the camera why she remained silent during the verbal attack on her: “This is not the Atlanta Housewives and I was bound and determined to show America the difference in the way an educated black woman handles herself under stress and the way someone who is not handles stress.”
After Trump and his gang were gone, NeNe went after Star again – “Don’t you ever play me like that again!” Star said, “I don’t do this, I don’t do threats.” She then begged NeNe to explain why she was so mad at her. And all NeNe could say is, “Shut the F%@ up, punk ass bitch.”
The May 1st episode of Celebrity Apprentice was full of twists, network interruption and drama! DRAMA BABY! But let’s sift through it all as best as we can….
We start with Star Jones and NeNe Leakes coming back to the suite to join the rest of our celebs after the firing of La Toya Jackson. Star tells the camera, “I’m tough and I am strategic. I am gonna work really hard to let somebody else lead and I am gonna bring my A game, as always.” NeNe looks dejected and tells everyone she hates to see anyone leave after they have all bonded.
NeNe then told the camera, “When Star did what she did to La Toya in the boardroom, I really was like I want to stay and kick Star’s ass, I am gonna figure it out how am I going to f!#!$ Star up. And I am.”
For this week’s task, the teams had to produce a live hair show featuring hairstyling products by Farouk Hair System products and Farouk hair stylists. Trump said hair is the most important way to make celebrities look beautiful, then laughed and said he has been abused for years about his hair but he doesn’t think it’s that bad.
Lil Jon was horrified, “I got dreads, I don’t know anything about doggone hair shows!” And since John Rich was exempt from having to lead (he lead and won last week), Lil Jon and Meatloaf did Rock Paper Scissors to decide who between them should lead. No lie. I don’t joke about that. Right in front of The Donald and Farouk Shami, the head of Farouk Systems (Maker of Biosilk and Chi). Lil Jon lost and had to be project manager.
NENE & STAR JONES COME TO BLOWS
NeNe told Trump Star wants her to lead, so, NeNe said even though she knows Star has “bad intentions” and being “strategic to throw her under the bus” she was going to lead anyway. NeNe then stared Star down (Star did not look back at NeNe) and said, “It’s all good, It’s all going down!”
Star defended herself to Trump without responding directly to NeNe by saying she thought leading would be a good opportunity for NeNe to win money for her charity. NeNe got in Star’s face as Star started to back away. “You did not think that and you did not say that. I know how you think, I know how you play the game,” NeNe yelled in Star’s face. “This is not The Real Housewives,” Star said as she kept backing away and looking at the Trumps to stop the madness. “Who are you to step in and tell someone when to be project manager, who are you? I will take you down while the rest of these girls will look at you and be scared,” NeNe shouted.
“I’m the girl that is not scared. You pressed the last button in me Ms. Star Jones and I will do what the rest of these girls won’t!” She then called Hope Star’s “puppet.” “Wow!” is all Star could say, now having put HopeDworaczykand Marlee Matlin in between her and NeNe. BUT, NeNe said she wanted to be on Star’s side now too and came over and started harassing Star again.
Trump asked how this all started. NeNe said it started from the beginning but that she was going to put a stop to the “bullshit manipulation.” Meat Loaf looked like he was going to die of discomfort and the other two ladies just stood there motionless, staring at Trump.
NeNe would not let up. “You talk a good game, now bring your street game cause that’s what I am bringing. Now where is Barbara Walters, Ms. ‘I am so educated!’ How educated are you on the street?” Lil Jon finally interrupted and said. “It’s getting hot in here!” That ended the madness. Temporarily.
Star explained to the camera why she remained silent during the verbal attack on her: “This is not the Atlanta Housewives and I was bound and determined to show America the difference in the way an educated black woman handles herself under stress and the way someone who is not handles stress.”
After Trump and his gang were gone, NeNe went after Star again – “Don’t you ever play me like that again!” Star said, “I don’t do this, I don’t do threats.” She then begged NeNe to explain why she was so mad at her. And all NeNe could say is, “Shut the F%@ up, punk ass bitch.”
OK–seriously, I need a break. This was extremely hard to watch and summarize.
WORKING ON THE TASK
Back to the “G-A-M-E.” The men knew they had unity on their side, but felt at a disadvantage against the women on a hair task until John Rich came up with a brilliant idea! What did he come up with? Bring back the fired Nikki Taylor to have her hair done on the men’s hair show. When the men called her, Nikki said without hesitation, “I’m in! I can’t believe the girls didn’t call me.”
Back to the women, NeNe told her team she knew things had started bumpy but asked them to come together and work. Not sure how the women could unite that quickly considering NeNe had just attacked all three of them in front of the boss–and the client. Hope told the camera she was turned off by NeNe and could not respect her as a leader. Star had a better attitude and knew they all had to work together and finish the task. The women came up with the theme of “Shake Your Beauty!” and the ice seemed broken as the women started shaking their hair left and right and all around and laughing together.
The men met with Farouk Shami and he told them his motto is “be safe, be beautiful and buy American.” He told the women to surprise him when NeNe said she wanted to do something different.
Men had a hard time settling on a theme for the show and Meat Loaf kept getting distracted. They knew they had to focus on “America” because that is what Farouk stressed upon, so they came up with “Feeling Good in America” as their focus for the show.
The women started getting along better. At least at face value. NeNe asked Hope to be the model. Hope told the camera she is tired of being the model even though that is her job in real life but knew she had to oblige because NeNe is a “vicious evil woman.”
Lil Jon was killing me. He took the models clothes shopping and said, “I feel like a pimp walking through Lord & Taylor!” He kept strutting through the high-end conservative store saying “pimp pimp!” LOVE HIM! Thanks for the laughs Lil Jon during such a harsh episode!
Hope and Marlee went shopping for the women. Hope said it was hard for her not to mentally check out when she was yelled at by NeNe. She then added it was hard for her to shop for someone else and not buy something for herself. So, she got preoccupied with shopping for herself and disappeared on Marlee.
At the salon, the men and women had to work in close proximity of each other. Star was in one corner working on the graphics. Somehow, this made NeNe go off on Star again to the camera, calling Star fat, evil, and dirty. “You may have lost weight on the outside, but your brain is still fat.” Huh?
Nikki walked into the salon and the men egged her on to go say hello to her old teammates. Nikki sprung the news on the women that she was helping the men and NeNe took it quite well even though she did not find it “cool.” Agreed. But it’s hilarious and quite genius on the men’s part.Star called Niki a “persona non grata” to the camera. Hope was confused by Nikki’s action and Marlee said, “I consider Nikki a friend. That would be a betrayal.”
Well, not only did Nikki help the men’s team by agreeing to be a model, she also, on her own, reached out to three of NY’s top models and got them to help as well. WOW! This is getting dirty darling Nikki!
The women were late to the salon on the day of the show and NeNe was mad that the stylists would get stressed when she’s late. “RELAX, can’t a bitch be late one time?” she asked the camera.
HAIR SHOW DAY
At the show, NeNe did a so-so job as the emcee. The dancers that Star had hired did a great job. So did Marlee as a hair model. NeNe said she always liked Marlee and could tell she was going beyond the call of duty serving as a hair model. About Hope‘smodeling on stage, on the other hand, NeNe thought she looked “stupid” and like “big bird.” NeNe said if she loses the task, fire will go down on Star and Hope.
The men’s show started dead with “holes you could drive a truck through,” as Meat Loaf described. But once Nikki stepped on stage, the energy changed. They finished the show strong by ending on a Mardi Gras party theme.
LA TOYA RETURNS
SURPRISE SURPRISE! We cut to Donald’s office and in walks La Toya! YAY!! She told him she was thrown off guard last episode and could not understand why she was fired. Donald who we all know has no good reason for having fired her blamed La Toya’s laryngitis saying she could not defend herself well in the boardroom.
WHAT DONALD?! Really? Did you just use that punk ass excuse for having fired La Toya just to keep the trouble makers on the show and improve the ratings? Yep, he sure did. Donald then asked her who her problem is and La Toya said Star has been after her from the beginning but said she rather talk about herself instead and said she wanted to come back, work with the men, and show her strengths. She reiterated that she could not see any grounds for her to have been fired. Good for you La Toya! You tell the man!
Trump told La Toya that in the history of the show, he has never given anyone a second chance. He said he would think about it only because she had in fact done well. Duh! La Toya was sweet but firm. I am really loving this woman I must admit! She shows how a woman can be classy, sweet, yet strong and resilient. Thanks La Toya for bringing some sanity to this show.
As you can read below, Donald came to his senses and surprised the men (and the women) by letting La Toya come back again and join the men’s team this time. HOOOOOORAY!!!
IN THE BOARDROOM
NeNe said she felt a bit alone on the first day of the task because her teammates were not living up to their potential. Ivanka told NeNe she should not be surprised because of the way she had acted. NeNe said Star is disloyal and a backstabber. Star said she knows those are not true about her and that is why she could continue working on the team despite the hell fired upon her at the start of the task. Star admitted though that she was bossy. “She’s been mean, honey,” NeNe told Donald which made Meat Loaf chuckle.
Donald asked Star if she would like NeNe or Hope on her team moving forward. Star said it would depend on whether she and NeNe could resolve the tension cutting at the two. She said she feels bad that NeNe despises her. NeNe said she does not want to work with anyone who is not decent or loyal.
Marlee said, “Sometimes NeNe scares me..” And NeNe cut her off, “When did that start?” Marlee admitted, “Yesterday morning I was a little scared.” Star also said she was worried that the verbal attack could have turned physical and NeNe said she would never physically attack Star. Marlee said she had the utmost respect for NeNe and found her loyal and honest. She said she does not think NeNe is “violent” but thinks she is verbally abusive. Star said she was not physically afraid of NeNe yesterday but was afraid that she herself could not maintain her dignity. NeNe asked Star if backstabbing is dignified and Star said she is not a backstabber. NeNe then asked, “Why is your reputation the way it is?” Hope rolled her eyes at the question and Lil Jon just dropped his head.
Donald said Star has a great reputation. But NeNe said most people she knows do not like Star.
Moving on to the men. They felt strong on their work. About Nikki, John said it was his idea to hire her help because he had become good friends with her through the show. “The most beautiful bright woman I know is Nikki Taylor and I thought she would be perfect [for a hair show which we the men knew nothing about.”]
Lil Jon said he had no weak player on his team and when challenged by Donald as to whom he would blame if they lost, Jon said confidently, ” We’re not going to lose…I know we did not lose.” And you know what? He was right.
Ivanka told the teams about their reviews. Farouk had loved Jon as an MC. He loved the theme of “American cities” and said the men really played up the patriotic theme well. He did not like that they did not address the safeness of his products, specifically that the products lack ammonia.
For the women, Farouk liked Marley as a model and found her charming. He thought the woman had emphasized safety and the stylists were informative and represented the brand well. Negatives were that NeNe was weak as an MC and had not highlighted the brand. He did not feel that there was a theme or direction. And lastly, Farouk thought the stylists had more control than the team over the presentation.
Farouk liked both teams but picked the men as the winners. As Donald congratulated the men, he told them he had a surprise for them. With that, he asked La Toya to come in and did she ever! She strutted into the boardroom looking all fly in her knee-high boots and sat on the men’s side. Donald said La Toya had made a strong case as to why she should be allowed back and he was impressed by her reasoning. La Toya said she looks very forward to working with the guys. Trump said this makes up for Jose Conseco having left due to no fault of the team or him and said he will never allow this type of re-hiring again. Never say Never Donald..
Donald asked La Toya who her friend was between NeNe and Star and La Toya said NeNe. She also called Star a backstabber. She also called Hope a “follower.” Donald called out Hope for not defending herself even though NeNe had also accused her of the same thing.
Back in the suite, the men and La Toya celebrated and John said of La Toya, “What a boost for our team!” Lil Jon said La Toya will mesh well with their team.
Back to the boardroom, Donald said both NeNe and Star are “nice” people. Donald asked NeNe why her team had lost. NeNe said her fault was that she waited too long to speak up to Star and when she figured out Star was being strategic and manipulative about wanting NeNe to be project manager, she lost it. NeNe said Hope or Star should be fired. “Hope is just weak. What do you guys need her here for? She’s just gonna be an intern. She’s just gonna let Star eat her up. And Star is gonna throw her in here next week.”
Hope then tried to defend herself by saying she lead better than NeNe when she was project manager. And then said she found it “interesting” that NeNe’s charity is one to help victims of domestic violence when she verbally abused Star. Ivanka cut her off and said it would be more beneficial if Hope just stuck with defending herself rather than Star. Her answer, “I don’t think I have been a follower of Star. I think I have done what I have been told by a project manager.”
Star said she wants Marlee on her team moving forward. Donald asked, who else. Star picked Hope because she wants her team to pull together. But also said if NeNe does not feel attacked, she is “one of the hardest workers” she has ever met. Trump asked Marley who she wants on her team moving forward. Marlee said moving forward, she would least like to have NeNe because she was project manager. Ivanka pressed Marlee, “That’s not what my father asked.” Marlee then said she’d rather have NeNe than Hope.
NeNe sent Marlee back to the suite and brought back Hope and Star to the boardroom. Star said she should not be fired because she “sucked it up and contributed to the task.” She said the barrage of attacks was meant to humble her and she was. NeNe said “I do think Star is a hard worker and she is very smart. I just don’t like the way she plays the game.”
Hope said she does not feel manipulated. She just feels Star is bossy and that’s her personality. Hope said NeNe should be fired because she was the project manager, raised her voice in front of the client and did not do a good job as host.
NeNe said Hope should be fired. “I am gonna keep it real because she is not a strong player and Star will walk all over her.” Hope then brought up the fact that NeNe had called La Toya “Casper the Ghost.” Donald asked Hope what she thought about La Toya having just said NeNe is her friend and Hope had no answer for that.
Donald asked Star if she cared if he fired NeNe or Hope. Star said the dynamics with Hope would not bring extra stress to the team. She added if NeNe and her could work out the complete animosity between them, “then I say keep NeNe.” NeNe looked at Trump triumphantly.
Donald then said, “In all fairness, I think that Hope has been very much under the radar. I have a great deal of respect for Hope. She is young. She’s beautiful. I think you have an amazing career ahead of you. I think this show is going to make you a big big star. A really big star. I must say however that these two [Star and NeNe], if they they could ever get going, they will be impossible to stop. And you don’t seem tough enough to go against them. It’s just not your world. Hope, you’re fired.”
As NeNe and Star walked out, NeNe said she wanted to talk to Star. The two looked contentious yet again, though they did shake hands. I have a bad feeling about this…
Hope said in her ride to who knows where, “It’s something cool to be fired by Trump.”
On the trailer for next week, it looks like more fireworks between NeNe and Star will be coming our way- “Game on!” It will be NeNe vs. Star, round two. And Meat Loaf is seen crying. There will be two tasks next week and three more will be fired. The show will start an hour earlier than usual.
Celebrity Apprentice May 1, 2011 was called “Sheer Madness.” The two teams had to put together a live hair show featuring a hairstyling products, featuring Farouk Hair System products and Farouk hair stylists.
NeNe Leakes was the project manager for Team A.S.A.P. Backbone’s project manager was Lil Jon.
Who was eliminated and fired?
SPOILER ALERT:
UPDATE: THE MEN WIN! AND GUESS WHAT?! LA TOYA JACKSON RETURNS TO THE SHOW TO JOIN THE MEN’S TEAM!!!
UPDATE #2 – OSAMA BIN LADEN HAS BEEN KILLED AND THE NEWS INTERRUPTED CELEBRITY APPRENTICE. WE HAVE NO IDEA WHO GOT FIRED. LIVE BLOGGING WILL RESUME ASAP.
UPDATE #3 – Hope is likely the one that was fired. CONFIRMING!
UPDATE #4 CONFIRMED! HOPE WAS FIRED!!
UPDATE #5: Star Jones was spotted today talking about Obama’s “pimp move” interruption of Celebrity Apprentice. WATCH THE VIDEO BY CLICKING HERE!
The April 24 Celebrity Apprentice started where the last one left off … with NeNe Leakes being hurt and wondering why La Toya Jackson would tell Donald Trump she would not keep in touch with NeNe once the show ended.
The men were all jubilant after the boardroom for having finally gotten rid of Gary Busey. Star told the men that they had rid their team of their weakest link and are now a strong team (be careful what you admit to Star!)
For this week’s task, the teams had to create an ad campaign for the Trump Hotel Collection. Star Jones and John Rich were the project managers of their teams.
John admitted, “I don’t know what the hell it means to promote the Trump Hotel Collection. When I am out on tour, I probably would not stay there myself because it is so high end. This is outside my range of expertise and that is a disadvantage right off the bat!” Star on the other hand told The Donald she has stayed at “several” of his hotels.
After meeting with the execs, Star, the self-proclaimed connoisseur of luxury, came up with the concept of “Individual elegance, collective luxury.” La Toya thought the idea was not creative enough but told the camera that Star is too strong-headed to be told that her idea isn’t good enough.
John felt severely challenged since his team is down to only three men. Lil Jon felt he didn’t know enough about the luxurious world because he just sleeps in hotels and doesn’t know much about anything else. Meat Loaf tried to convey the vision of his concept to the team but confused everyone. John told the camera Meat Loaf is like a “riddle wrapped in an enigma” – meaning, there are too many layers of complexity to his thinking which ends up confusing people. The men finally came up with concept of “Live the life.” BORING!
Star told the camera that La Toya is useless when it comes to making things happen so she asked NeNe and LaToya to run errands. NeNe knew the odd pairing of her and La Toya was strategic planning by Star. So, NeNe spoke up to Star and said, “I have a bit of an issue that you put me and La Toya to work together. That’s a bit of a problem. It’s very difficult for somebody like me to work with fake women. I’m very real and I cannot work with somebody that as soon as Donald Trump asks a question, suddenly, you throw one of us under the table. It’s not cool.”[I think NeNe meant under the bus…and this accusation is coming from the woman who, unrequested, hopped over to Don Jr. in a koala costume to tell him how awful La Toya was as project manager. Sorry, NeNe, that’s just me keepin’ it real.]
La Toya asked NeNe to explain herself. And NeNe said it was “unfair to sit in front of Mr. Trump and say NeNe ‘doesnt like me.'” La Toya said the only reason she did not name NeNe as someone she would call after the show ends is because she felt NeNe does not like her. “That is very wrong,” NeNe interrupted. “I don’t like it and it really pisses me off.” La Toya explained, “I truly felt yesterday that if I called you, you would hang up the phone…” NeNe asked, “I don’t know where you got that from.” La Toya said, “I felt that there were eyes rolling, talking behind my back. Girls, I am human, that hurts. It hurts me to see people rolling eyes. That day you just cursed me out, that hurt me so badly, but I tried to remain strong and I said she doesn’t even realize what she is doing.”
NeNe told the camera that La Toya’s explanation helped her to understand her more. But she still didn’t get the big picture and placed blame on La Toya. “I understand she has issues and I need to be more sensitive and not so rough around her.”
La Toya said she had no animosity against NeNe and that she thought NeNe has a good heart. “Actually, I love you and with that said, I’d like to give you a hug,” La Toya said. [GOD I LOVE YOU La Toya for being such a lady and class act!]
With all that, NeNe agreed to work with La Toya but still told the camera she doesn’t fully trust La Toya because it’s hard for her to trust anyone. Star said the boys are in trouble because now she’s rid the team of negativity and has nothing left but five woman working together with nothing but love.
The woman got manicures and had their hair done so they could represent the luxurious life in their photo shoot. Of course the men did no such thing. Instead, they worked on their project and John felt he and Lil Jon worked really well together.
While running errands, La Toya and NeNe continued their reconciliation with La Toya doing all the mending and saying how NeNe is sensitive and that she does not want to hurt her. The two were acting like old BFFs and La Toya told NeNe she better have a guest room ready when she goes and visits her in Atlanta.
Back at the ladies’ headquarters, the photo shoot got delayed because Star misjudged how long it would take for NeNe and La Toya to run the errands. As soon as the new BFFs got back to their team, Star told NeNe and La Toya they had five minutes to get ready which pissed off NeNe. “Bitch, what you talking about we have five minutes,” NeNe complained to the camera. She continued, “Star is definitely setting me up.” She told the ladies they think she and La Toya are “superfly,” expecting them to get ready in super speed. Star and NeNe kept fighting over how long NeNe’s directed shots of Hope were taking. Even with all the fighting, the women were somehow still able to finish the photo shoot in time but the finished brochure looked crowded and busy.
Meat Loaf “screwed up” on his one task by taking a picture of the hotel butler without him smiling. John definitely wanted a friendlier vibe for the ad and came up with yet another one of his verbal gems by saying, “It looks like an outlaw picture of a guy that got murdered and stood up in a casket in the middle of town and they took a picture of him.”
The men spent a lot of time trying to ensure that their extremely wordy promo brochure was proofread well and was devoid of spelling errors. But they failed to heed the words of the execs to stay away from the age-old concept of hotel and butler images in the brochure.
Each team presented their pitch to the exec judges. The men put on an engaging presentation whereas the women just spewed out word after word of attributes and adjectives such as “best of the best” and “sophistication,” which they felt described Trump hotels. They kept going on and on and on…It was “corny” as aptly described by La Toya to the camera.
The execs compared the women’s brochure to the junk flyers for “sleazy clubs” which we all find underneath our car windshield wipers. They liked that the name “Trump” stood out well against the crowded pics. They also said the women’s “jack in the box” style of spitting out attributes made them “cringe.”
But the execs didn’t like the men’s brochure either, finding it too wordy and demanding too much time to read. They also found many misspellings despite the care the men took to avoid them. The men also used a photo of a butler and an image of a hotel that the execs had specifically hinted at staying away from to avoid being mundane. The execs felt that the men’s brochure lacked a “call to action” – there was no 800 number listed, nor a website address or contact info. The execs did like the enthusiasm and energy of the men’s presentation and felt the men were coming from a place in their heart. As to picking a winner they said, “This is no easy discussion with Trump or an easy decision to make.”
The execs met up with Trump and told him the two teams were “not good at all,” and that they felt there was a “real disconnect” between the assignment and the end product. The execs felt the men really understood what the luxurious hotels were about but did not talk about the end product. The execs also felt it was terrible that no contact info was provided by the men in their brochure. As for the women, the execs felt the word “Trump” jumped out on their brochure but felt the photos in the ads were a mess. They picked the men as the better presenters and felt women were too “scripted.” As for a winner, they picked “the lesser of two evil” and said, “There really is no winner. The loser is…”
The women seemed united in the boardroom. Hope said Star is the most impressive team member. NeNe was asked who the strongest person on the team is other than herself and NeNe named Marlee Matlin. NeNe said she made up with La Toya but sort of threw her under the bus by saying the girls had felt La Toya was phony.
Now that NeNe doesn’t have a feud with La Toya, she picked on her next victim. She said she felt a couple of the girls were “crawling up Star’s ass.” She continued, “I felt even Hope or Marlee…I feel like they could be strong players if they just be strong players.” What was the response of our possible next President to this bizarre comment? Trump said, “By the way, much nicer now that she lost all the weight.” WHAT?!? Seriously?? Did Trump just comment on the size and nicety of Star’s post-weight loss ass?
This conversation did not end there. Star took it upon herself to comment on the hypothetical situation of her teammates actually crawling into her more cushiony old ass. She explained, “It would not have been very comfortable for you back then.” [Disturbing string of conversation — then again, it’s moments like this that make THIS SHOW one of the best reality shows out there.]
Back to the men — John said his three teammates took on Herculean tasks and there was no individual star but felt his team had done well.
Trump then dropped the bombshell that the judges disliked both of the team’s outputs and had even called the women’s efforts a “Greek tragedy.” So, Donald announced the loser as the women’s team. With that, he sent the men back to their suite.
Star tried to save her team by arguing that no one should be fired but Trump said the team had done so badly that she had no leg to stand on for such an argument. Donald said the men won because they had the better pitch. THAT ALONE should have gotten Star fired because the pitch was entirely her idea. But somehow, things did not work out that way.
Donald Trump Jr. said the bathtub shot directed by NeNe was cheesy and contained many mistakes (such as an uncorked bottle but a glass full of wine and Hope being in a bathtub…with a towel on!). NeNe would not say who should be fired but La Toya said it should be Star because she was the project manager. Marlee said she would fire La Toya because based on all tasks to date she does not deem La Toya a leader. Donald Jr. jumped in and said the same thing could be said about Hope but Marlee disagreed. NeNe cut in and said moving forward La Toya would be the weakest link.
Donald Trump said on two previous tasks the execs had picked La Toya as the best team player–a statement that shut the women down. Even so, Star picked La Toya and NeNe to come back to the boardroom to face the firing squad with her. Star admitted she was taking NeNe back with her so the two of them could team up against La Toya and get her fired.
While waiting to be called back into the boardroom, NeNe told the camera she felt she was being manipulated by Star. “La Toya and I just made a connection yesterday, so I just have to figure out what I am going to do.”
The women were called back in the boardroom. Star put the entire burden of her argument on what NeNe had to say about La Toya which should have been another reason why Star should have been fired. The star attorney actually made someone else make her argument for her? Really? And Trump let her get away with that? Anway, after some hesitation, NeNe said, “La Toya is not a strong player. Period. It’s just what it is. She’s not a strong player.” NeNe then threw her arms in the air as to indicate that’s all she was going to say.
La Toya begged to differ and explained why all losses in the past were directly Star’s fault. Star blamed La Toya as the cause for Star having had to “stop the progress” of the team on this task. Star claimed that at La Toya’s request (that never happened–it was NeNe who wanted to talk things out), Star stopped everything to have a “come to Jesus” meeting to resolve issues between NeNe and La Toya.
Trump said the men’s team is strong [They are?? They had lost three tasks in a row and barely ‘won’ this one] and the women need to get along to be able to keep up with the men. He also said that her teammates do not want La Toya on the team moving forward. So, to give the women’s team “the chance to fight” he fired La Toya.
Come again, Donald? Are you kidding me? The women did such a horrible job on this task that the execs called it a “Greek tragedy.” Who else could you blame for such a complete meltdown and failure on a task other than the team’s project manager? Donald surely kept Gary Busey around at the expense of the likes of Mark McGrath even though Gary’s entire team wanted him gone much earlier. But he fired La Toya for the same reason despite La Toya having kicked ass on two assignments including a win as a project manager? It sure looks to me that Trump wanted to keep the trouble makers on the show around for the ratings.
Star should have been the one fired because she was the project manager. As the self-proclaimed connoisseur of luxury, she failed miserably when her final product conveyed the look and feel of sleazy strip bars. Star wasted time getting a manicure but blamed time wastage on a bitch session started by NeNe and not La Toya. Star’s pitch was horrible and the execs specifically said the men won because their pitch was better. Star also failed to argue well for herself in the boardroom and delegated her field of expertise (lawyering) to NeNe instead. La Toya was just too sweet and too drama-free and so she suffered as a result.
After the boardroom, the usually outspoken and confident NeNe was shocked at the tactics Star was willing to take to win. She rightfully felt that Star had “orchestrated” the whole firing. She told the camera that Star “is willing to cut your damn head off to win. I did not know the competition was that way.”
NeNe told Star that her friendships meant more to her than “any of this.” “We have to be a team,” NeNe said. Star responded, “I don’t like losing.” NeNe finished, “You have to listen to other people.” Star said this was a learning experience for her.
On her limousine ride to who knows where, La Toya said Star is manipulative and thought Donald had made a mistake.
Next week’s previews make for a doozy of a show. Looks like we will finally get a great showdown between Star and NeNe – probably making Trump very happy with his decision to keep the outspoken ladies on for a final fight.
On tonight’s episode, the contestants were tasked with running an advertising campaign for the Trump Hotel Collection.
John Rich and Star Jones were the project managers tonight.
SPOILER ALERT: The women of team A.S.A.P. lost the task. Star brought back La Toya Jackson and NeNe Leakes with her to the boardroom. At the end, it was La Toya who was fired.
Celebrity Apprentice Recap Summary April 17, 2011.
On tonight’s Celebrity Apprentice, the players had to create a 20-minute live cooking demonstration for Omaha Steaks, making three-occasion specific meals.
The project managers were *GULP* Gary Busey and Hope Dworaczyk. Hope is a vegetarian but when Donald Trump asked her, “Are you a meat eater?” she said, “I’m from Texas, so, yes!” Liar!
Gary named Meat Loaf the chef without asking him if he even knows how to cook – which Meat Loaf doesn’t. Perhaps Gary assumed being named Meat Loaf means one is good in the kitchen but who knows what goes on in Busey’s mind. What was even worse is that no one came to join Meat Loaf in the kitchen, leaving all the work on the non-cooker’s shoulders.
Lil Jon had absolutely no tasks assigned to him which pissed off Meat Loaf and Lil Jon equally. When Ivanka Trump came to check on the men, she pulled Meat Loaf aside who told her he had no idea what was going on and who was doing what. She asked him if he was a good cook and he said, “No.” Then Lil Jon ran out and begged Ivanka to “Save me please. Take me with you!” Ivanka told the camera that she felt like she had walked into a “group therapy session!”
On the women’s side, Hope wanted to host the show. Star Jones wanted Marlee to host one of the demonstrations because Starjust can’t sit quiet and take assignments and listen. The women were surprisingly making some great meal selections and task assignments despite their lack of unity. Once they arrived at their test kitchen, they were all happy with the setup. The original menu was two steaks and a seafood meal, with La Toya Jackson having been tasked with making one of the steak meals. Ne Ne Leakes voiced her concerns that one of the steaks should be changed to a burger. So, Hope told La Toya to change her menu and cook a burger instead. La Toya deemed this last minute change as another tactic to give her a task at which to fail.
The men of Team Backbone were all simply stated, confused. Gary was all over the place and made no sense when giving instructions or speaking. Lil Jon was finally given a task: He had to cut up paper. John Rich was working on Meat Loaf’s menu but Gary came over and took charge and made changes. He told John to “Sit down boy!”
On the women’s side, La Toya who has grown up with chefs and cooks all her life instead of learning how to cook for herself starts a small fire in the pan, and NeNe actually says, “Oh my gosh, she’s trying to do the Michael Jackson on me!” No one gives credit to La Toya who is trying hard to do tasks she’s never had to do in her personal life, like cook a burger. Instead, NeNe goes behind her back and tells the camera that this is America and she can’t believe someone doesn’t know how to cook a burger.
On the big day of presentations, John comes to the rescue andhelps Meat Loaf organize the food so that the cooking goes as smoothly as possible. Gary and Lil Jon work on making the Omaha Steaks variety packet look good by–get this–simply putting the meat into black tissue paper.
The women decide to not cook anything during the demonstration and just show off three finished meals instead. La Toya ran through her presentation as a test and Hope’s biggest piece of advice to her was to “speak up.” To the camera Hope said, “If she keeps baby talking, someone is going to smack her.” NeNe was getting frustrated because her test time was being cut and interrupted by having to wait for sign interpretation for Marlee Matlin. Hope was getting frustrated with NeNe because she’s “more nervous and gets more frustrated than anyone knows.” Despite all their cattiness, the ladies worked it out and did a pretty good job in cooking the meals.
Meat Loaf felt the most unprepared he has ever felt in his life. In addition, the menu was all wrong and listed the wrong sides and had typos. Gary tried to pin the mistakes in the menu on John and John would not take the blame. John instead blamed Gary for not proofing the menu and said instead of listening to him yesterday, he called him “boy.”
La Toya kicked ass on the actual presentation. But all Hope could muster is “La Toya wasn’t loud enough.” Star, NeNe and Marlee also did fantastic on their presentations. But NeNe still had to find a negative in the great day. “If we failed anywhere is because La Toya and Star did not cook [during the presentation]. I actually turned on my oven and cooked my lobster tails.”
Meat Loaf did a great job at the presentation despite not knowing how to cook. Gary actually was funny and put on the charm.
Donald Trump met with the Omaha Steaks executives and this is what they told The Donald:
“The men were extremely enthusiastic. And Meat Loaf is a terrific chef.”
“The women were terrific. They were very well organized. They obviously really worked as a team (HUH?!) and gelled as a team. But the women didn’t do as much live cooking as the men.” They called out NeNe for failing to say “Steaks” when naming “Omaha”.
The execs noticed that John and Lil Jon did not participate much. They liked Gary‘s narrative style but said he dragged it out too much.
In the boardroom things got ugly.
John called Gary‘s management style: “Catastrophic collapse of time management.” Meat Loaf actually said he likes Gary but said he felt overwhelmed with his task and said if it weren’t for John, there would have been no presentation.
Lil Jon started his review of Gary with: “I like Gary.” Then he went for the jugular, “But Gary is not always here on earth with us. He was orbiting the outer space for the last two days…I am dead ass for real. We were so frustrated. Like I didn’t get anything to do. He made me cut up paper. I felt like I was in kindergarten.” Gary just sat there, staring into space but did at the end speak up and say, “He helped me very much in arranging a package for the ultimate celebration package..” Lil Jon interrupted: “Putting tissue in a box? You’re a grown ass man, you’re supposed to be able to do that by yourself!”
The women all said Hope was a great project manager, except for NeNe who called her just “good.” Marlee said Hope was “spectacular!” La Toya said the team was unified and said she has made friends for life (WHAT?!?!?). Donald challenged her and asked her who she considers a friend and who she would see after the show. La Toya then back peddled and said if she called Star and Hope on the telephone, “I think they would say ‘hello’ and speak a little bit…And Marlee as well.” She did not name NeNe.
The women won yet again and actually looked like they were getting along well back in the suite. Well, I spoke too soon. There went NeNe telling the camera: “I was very happy for Hope. But I wasn’t feeling like celebrating because I keep getting a label in the boardroom. I don’t really like them. Really, of all the girls, I am the least negative, and I really can’t understand what I have done to be given a label.” Star stood up for NeNe saying she’s not a negative person and went over and consoled her. NeNe called La Toya a ‘bitch’ to Star for saying in the boardroom she would not call NeNe.
Back to the men in the boardroom. John said he had a problem being called a “boy.” Gary lied and said, “I didn’t call you a ‘boy.’ I said ‘KaBoy’ [Sidenote: or CaBoy–it’s a Busey-made up word so not sure on spelling!] like they call the Dallas Cowboys.” John said: “My name is John…I’m shocked I didn’t flip out but I reminded myself this is for charity.”
When Trump asked him which two of the men he wants to bring back to the boardroom, Gary said all three of his teammates “were excellent. It was catastrophic and chaotic and I don’t have a feeling to fire anyone.” After some more talk, Meat Loaf looked constipated. Trump asked, “Meat Loaf this is really bothering you? Well then Meat Loaf, you know what? I am gonna make you very happy…Gary, you are very talented, you’re very unique. You’re an amazing guy and Gary, you’re fired. Go.”
On his ride to never never land, Busey said his team just didn’t like him and were “determined” to kick him out despite how well he did. And then in pure Busey fashion he ended his time on the show by saying, “I can turn a thunderstorm and a tornado into a rainbow and I am flying over the rainbow tonight. Who knows, it could be true!” Ya, he really did say all that.
Tune in to Celebrity Apprentice next week because it looks like a great show down between NeNe and Star is in the works. And La Toya, who I must admit, I am falling in love with!
On Sunday April 10th’s Celebrity Apprentice, our celebs were posed with the challenge of creating an engaging 10′ x10′ glass box public marketing display for Australian Gold sunscreen and body lotion.
Mark McGrath finally stepped up to the plate and volunteered to lead Team Backbone as project manager. Mark said, “it’s my time to shine!” La Toya Jackson volunteered as well for Team A.S.A.P so she could show her team she has what it takes.
Mark suggested that his team dress as pirates and went against other members’ idea of simply having lots of “babes” sell the product. The women threw a lot of ideas at La Toya, but quickly became frustrated with their team leader when she could not make fast decisions.
Both teams met with the Australian Gold executives and the execs stressed to both to concentrate on the company’s koala mascot, Surfing Sydney. But all the men heard was the execs say, “Life is short, you have treasured moments,” concentrating on the word “treasures.” And everyone knows treasures mean pirates! LOL.
La Toya asked her team to look up old Australian Gold commercials and to see what they’ve done in the past. When ads showed men and women on the beach, La Toya suggested they mimic the same. NeNeLeakes kept pushing for a new idea by saying, “They’ve done that already.” She also bad-mouthed La Toya every chance she got to the camera, “La Toya is confusing because she is all over the place. She had no idea on where to go, at all.”
When Playmate of the year Hope Dworaczyk volunteered to be one of the swim-suited models at the display, Jackson instead tasked Hope with keeping the budget and doing the shopping. Now, I like Ms. Jackson, but I could not understand why she would not use her team’s best physical assets on this particular job and hire models instead.
As for the design of the box, Mark told the set designers to make the glass box look like a shipwreck salvation center, with the center being the treasure chest full of suntan lotion. “We’re pirates,” Meat Loaf emphasized to the designers.
The women who went shopping for props, Hope, Marlee Matlin and NeNe, meanwhile felt confused and were not sure what the whole concept was. La Toya and Star Jone met with the set designers, and Star expressed to the camera that she had no idea what La Toya’s vision was. La Toya told the designers, we want palm trees and koalas and added, “Just bear with me right now cause I am winging it!”
Lil Jon and Gary Busey were in charge of props for the men’s team and decided against renting a koala costume the store they shopped at had because it was a different color that the Australian Gold mascot and did not wear shades. Lil Jon explained that companies are “sensitive” about their mascots and did not want to use a costume not matching the mascot exactly. Meanwhile, Marlee reserved the same costume the men rejected to use as part of their display.
Ivanka Trumpvisited both camps and seemed to really like the men’s pirate idea and the jingle chant they wrote. She told the women their idea was not distinguished enough which sent La Toya questioning their idea. So, the morning of the presentation, La Toya decided to add a winter element in addition to her summer theme to show that sunscreen can and should be used all year round. Instead of being happy for the new creative idea, the women were worried that they had more work to do last minute.
Donald Trump, Jr. visited the women’s display as it was almost set up – he thought they had done a great job of brand integration even though there was too much going on. NeNe hopped over to Donald Jr. in her koala costume just so she could trash talk La Toya all over again. “La Toya was not organized and she was not a good project manager….I’d be surprised if we won.” Now, Ms. Leakes, how you gonna back stab your team like that? Oh no, she did not stop there. “If we win, it means the guys sucked!” she told the camera.
Trump Jr. also paid a visit to the men’s display and said the men came up with something original, had integrated the celebs into the display, and integrated the product. He believed they had made an energetic scene which conveyed a defined theme versus the nebulous idea of a beach like the women had. But he did say he was not sure if the display conveyed the message the Australian Gold executives wanted.
When the Australian Gold execs visited the men’s display, Gary grabbed one of the executives by the arm and dragged them all away from Meat Loaf. Gary also cornered the execs and physically pushed Mark away when he tried to break up Gary’s monopoly hold on them. Finally, the men started singing their jingle chant and distracted the execs away from Gary.
Donald Trump, Sr. met with the Australian Gold execs after they had a chance to visit each display. The execs liked the men’s jingle and said they created greater buzz around the box than the women, interacted well with the crowd and educated them better. They did not, however, like the fact that Gary had presented himself as the representative of the team. They also did not like the men’s specific non-use of “Live the gold life” slogan or the koala bear mascot. They also disliked the pirate theme. They said that the women had hit the slogan and messaging well, but they did not interact as well with the crowd or use their theme as well as they could have, specifically pointing out that Hope should have been in a bikini showing off her Playmate bod….At the end of the day, the execs picked Team A.S.A.P. as the winners.
In the boardroom, Mark made the lethal mistake of saying if his team loses, he would take the sole blame. At that moment, I wanted to scream, “NO MARK, NO! Don’t you watch The Apprentice? The Donald does not keep people around who ask to be fired!” Mark did try to backpedal and took Gary as the sole other person on the chopping block back to the boardroom. And even though Gary lied and said he had not made sexual comments to the execs, it was too late for Mark and it was Mark who walked the plank and dove deep into the murky waters of the “You’re fired!” hell.
Did the win quiet down the hater NeNe? Of course not. Even though Trump specifically told NeNe to go back to the hotel room and “apologize to La Toya,” NeNe said, “No” to Trump and went full throttle against La Toya back in the hotel.
It all started with NeNe, the constant nagger and tattletale herself, saying, “La Toya, I don’t appreciate you using my name in a negative way. You tried to act as if I said I don’t like you. And I have never said that. This has nothing to do with personal, this is strictly business.”
Then she started raising her voice, claiming she is real and if La Toya did not like what she heard, she could “go in the bathroom and hide.” La Toya kept her cool. NeNe went on, “Don’t you try and act you’re the reason we won. I worked my ass off while you sat there and looked like Casper the Ghost! Let’s be clear Casper, let’s be clear! Disappear ghost….the only reason you’ve gotten this far is because of your last name and you faked it for fifty years. You are very old and you need to play your age and not 12. You are a (sic) old lady.”
Thank God Star interrupted the rant and said, “Let’s watch the men self-destruct, we are owed that for god sake, please.” La Toya acted like a class act, did not say anything except tell the camera that she and NeNe were from different cloths.
On Sunday April 3rd’s Celebrity Apprentice,Meat Loaf had an epic freak out and gave Gary Busey the verbal beat down of a lifetime…
But let’s start at the beginning. Donald Trump loves art – So, he asked the teams to create their own works of art, whether they be paintings, sculptures or any other form of art, and to sell the art pieces for charity.
Trump also asked the teams to design and decorate 7 New Era baseball caps with the celebrity making the best design getting a “sizable” donation to his/her charity.
Marlee Matlin was the Project Manager for Team A.S.A.P. and John Rich for Team Backbone. Rich’s motivation to star on the show was to raise a record amount of money for charity and to show Trump “What country boys are capable of and how big our hearts can open up.”
Rich warned his team and gave them a declaration of how things were gonna shake out. He told each of them if they didn’t bring in donations, they would be nailed to the wall. Matlin on the other hand used a gentler approach. She asked her team for help. She said, “We must win this task, we must raise a ‘$!##$#*’ load of money,” at which time her hands were blurted out signing a cuss word. [Side note: Did you know they blurt out fingers when sign cussing takes place on TV? Pretty interesting.] She then told her team, “I don’t want any more fighting, I don’t want any more backstabbing. We are a team.”
Matlin wanted to test LaToya Jackson’s capabilities and allow her to prove herself. So, Matlin called upon Jackson to reach out to her rich and famous family. Jackson told the camera she would not be able to get dollars in time from the west coast to New York in the few hours they had for the task, so, she suggested instead to create paintings which would read “I miss you Michael, I love you, something like that to show the sadness and the sorrow and to touch the hearts of people.”
Jackson also lovingly gave up for charity a special t-shirt she carries with her everywhere: A This Is It shirt signed by her brother Michael of which only two exist in the world. She said “this is what Michael would have wanted.” She continued, “We should be an example of the angel that he is…he is such an angel. Thank you guys.”
Jose Canseco had to leave the task and the show permanently due to an illness in the family. Canseco broke down as he told Trump that this father’s long-term battle with cancer had taken a turn for the worst. When Trump asked him if his dad would be OK, Canseco said, “I don’t think so, I think it’s pretty bad.” Donald bade farewell to the baseball champ and gave his charity B.A.T. which assists minor league players who need medical assistance a gift of $25,000.
Team Backbone decided to create one of the baseball caps in honor and with the name of Canseco’s dad. Richard Hatch, the man serving two separate prison sentences for tax evasion, questioned Canseco’s honesty and motives. He thought since Canseco did not raise much money during the team’s first fundraising task, maybe he had used his dad’s illness as a ploy to leave this task. He questioned, “Would Jose stoop to that level? I don’t know.”
Busey managed to piss off Meat Loaf in the art supply store when he asked Meat Loaf if he was buying art supplies for everyone. Meat Loaf told the camera, “My switch is this close and it’s ugly when I get angry.” Boy, was Meat Loaf under exaggerating his anger potential.
When the men go into their work studio, Meat Loaf could not find some of his art supplies (which were in plain sight in the room by the way). He then inexplicably lost his cool and called Busey a “M*ther f*cker” and lashed out at him saying, “I bought those m*ther f*cking sponges. Part of that paint is mine…I am so sick and tired of …” Meat Loaf then lunged at Busey and Mark McGrath bravely stepped in between an overly irate Meat Loaf and a justifiably befuddled Busey. Meat Loaf kept calling Busey the same MF name over and over again. “You look in my eyes and I am the last person in the f*cking world you ever want to f*ck with. You understand me?” We then luckily cut to commercial break.
After the break, and before any of us viewers could catch our breath, NBC cut right back to the feud between the two celebs. Rich took Busey out of the studio. And McGrath calmed Meat Loaf down and stopped him from “ripping Busey’s head off.” Busey came back in right before Rich found the missing bag with Meat Loaf’s supplies. But did that discovery calm Meat Loaf down and make him apologize? HELL NO. He threw Busey’s spray paint can which he had picked up while Busey was outside back at him and yelled at him to “shut the f*ck up.” Rich gave the team a speech about why they were all there and how the charities needed them, so, the men got back to making art. Once Meat Loaf started painting by bouncing a paint-wetted basketball onto a blank canvas, the men looked like they were back on track.
Somehow, the men managed to complete their work in time and got in their transport van by 3 PM to beat the hellish Friday afternoon New York traffic. Once they got to the gallery, the men finally got into the spirit of the assignment and things started moving more swiftly.
The women were slow on their artwork and kept pushing back their departure time for the gallery. They did not leave until 5 PM on a Friday and got stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Meanwhile, the men finished setting up their gallery and had time to relax, smoke, and chit chat.
NBC cut to Meat Loaf having a sit down with Busey. “I did the wrong thing in yelling at you this morning. It didn’t solve anything and I am so embarrassed by it. And I am so upset by it. Nothing ever gets solved when people do that,” confessed Meat Loaf. All Busey could mutter as he listened mostly quietly is, “I know, I am aware of that.” Meat Loaf then cut him off and said, “I have been beating myself up all day for it….I have to apologize and I am really really sorry.” Busey simply said, “I accept your apology.”
To the cameras, Busey said, “Meat Loaf had a battle going inside him and the best way he knew how to win it is to confront me in a confrontation of death. Beating me senseless, that was his way of confronting his own anger.” Busey then suggested to Meat Loaf to go to anger management and Meat Loaf admitted he already had. The two men then hugged it out. Busey came back to the camera and said, “Meat Loaf excelled to the level of dancing on a rainbow with no fear. And no doubt.” I’m really starting to really like Busey.
Back to the women’s camp. The ladies finally arrived at an empty gallery but their art had yet to arrive. The women started panicking because they could not start raising funds without the art. With only 5 minutes left until the opening, the art arrived and the women went into a mad rush to display everything. The women opened the gallery doors even though they were not done with their displays. But there was hardly a shopper waiting to come in.
The men on the other hand had a gallery full of people and were rolling in the dough! The celebs, other than Hatch, brought out all their very rich and extremely generous friends who ended up buying all the art.
Over time, the women started making more money as they started taking donations over the telephone and as more buyers came in the gallery. The women got three individual donations of $99,000 each over the telephone, one of which was for the sale of MJ’s shirt. They probably would have raised even more money had there not been a limit of $99,000 on credit card sales.
Not to be outdone, Rich sold his Gibson guitar which he hand-rhinestoned and had signed by the entire cast for a whopping $470,000.
Federico Castelluccio, star of The Sopranos, is also an accomplished painter and was asked by The Donald to come and select the winner of the baseball cap competition. Castelluccio chose Jackson’s hat which contained a replica of MJ’s hand as a design. So, Jackson won $25,000 as a result for her charity, AIDS Project Los Angeles.
In the boardroom, Rich said Lil Jon and Meat Loaf were his best artists. Meat Loaf admitted to having lost his temper to Trump. Everyone stood up for Rich’s management style. The women also praised Matlin’s passion and poise. Even Star Jones said, “It was an honor to work with [Matlin].”
When all was said and done, an incredibly-impressive fundraising record was set. In fact, so much money was raised by both teams that before the winner was announced, Trump made this offer: If both teams agreed, the the project manager of the losing team would keep the money he/she had raised for his/her charity instead of winner take all. Both teams agreed instantaneously.
The two teams raised a combined amount of $1,640,000 (including Jackson’s $25,000 prize) which was more money than ever raised in any single season of Celebrity Apprentice. The men raised $626,908 of that amount. But the women did even better if you can believe that! They raised $986,000 and obviously, won the task. Matlin is playing for Starkey Hearing Foundation and Rich for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital both of which will be much more wealthy after this episode. Trump threw in an additional $14,000 of his own money for the winner, making Matlin’s contribution to her charity a cool million.
The Donald then threw another monkey wrench into the game. Because the men had raised so much money, he asked the women to decide if everyone on the men’s team should be safe that week as a prize or if the women wanted Trump to actually fire a man from Backbone. Star Jones tried to whisper into Matlin’s ear and Matlin said, “I’m deaf, Star, I can’t hear!” Matlin then said she wished she wasn’t put in that position but then said she had an idea but asked for 30 seconds to consult with her teammates.
After talking it out, Matlin said, “With all due respect, my heart goes to Jose and his family. And I would do the same exact thing. Now, in terms of the team, which I congratulate them wholeheartedly for raising that much mullah, we have gone through hell with three firings in a row, and it was all business and I suggest you fire someone because it’s all business.”
With that Trump asked Rich who his weakest team player was. Rich said in this task he would have to rank the players by the amount of money each raised. McGrath raised $20,000. Lil Jon $10,000 -15,000. Meat Loaf about $11,000, leaving Rich with having raised most of the money. Hatch raised the least but Trump strangely used Hatch’s four years in jail as an excuse of why Hatch was not able to raise money. Trump asked the women who he should fire and the ones asked named Hatch.
Rich admitted moving forward the weakest link on his team would be Busey because the team will need more focus. The rest of the team agreed and named Busey as well. But Trump stood up for Busey and said, “I love the brilliance…I think Gary is a different kind of a guy. I think he’s very deceptive. I think Gary is really a very solid guy even though sometimes he pretends that he is not.” Busey agreed with Trump, and called himself, “Secretive and mysterious.” Matlin then stood up for Busey and called him, “Brilliant.” She told the men Busy is “More brilliant than I think any of you realize. He knows how to play the game and you need to look at the bigger picture..he is very passionate. He will fight.” Matlin suggested Hatch be fired.
So, in the end and without warning or asking Rich to leave the boardroom only to come back with his two weakest players, it was Richard Hatch which heard the famous, “You’re fired” words from Trump. Hatch was shocked! “I didn’t get to defend myself! I had a whole list!” No matter Hatch. Goodbye.
Another week of craziness went down on Celebrity Apprentice and this time, it was Gary Busey and Niki Taylor who were in charge of Backbone and A.S.A.P. teams, respectively.
You know you were waiting all season for Busey to take charge, admit it!
Oh poor Busey. Although he was named Project Manager, he never seemed to be fully in charge. Of anything. He seemed discombobulated throughout the whole episode which is hard to do considering he spent half the show shooting the breeze with teammate Jose Canseco – to the point that Mark McGrath took video evidence of the two wasting time in case he needed proof in the boardroom.
But despite his lackadaisical yet somehow manic project management style, it wasn’t Busey who lost the task. In fact, his team won overwhelmingly over the Taylor-lead female team which left Taylor as the one hearing the dreaded “You’re fired!” words from Donald Trump.
In case you missed the show, here is a recap:
This week, our favorite B-List celebrities were tasked with promotion of camping gear and RV’s through a display in middle of New York city.
Taylor seemed to be up to the task at the get go. She picked the theme of “camping in the 21st century” after she and fellow contestant and Playboy Playmate Hope Dworaczyk figured out what century we currently live in. Taylor then assigned each celeb on her team a room in the RV to decorate; a tactic which seemed like a pretty solid form of delegation at the time.
Not before long, lots of bickering broke out on both teams involving just about everyone. NeNe Leakes (Atlanta’s Real Housewives) and Star Jones started their feud when Jones once again tried to take full control of the team. Taylor and Dionne Warwick openely had a disagreement in front of customers during the presentation part of the task. Warwick went so far as to call Taylor a “hussy” behind her back after the argument ended.
Taylor was not the only one disgruntled with Warwick. Marlee Matlin labeled Warwick the weakest link when Donald Trump, Jr. came on site for a visit with Team A.S.A.P.
On the men’s side, McGrath seemed to be one of the few busting ass to get the job done while Busey and Canseco did absolutely nothing for long stretches of time. Country singer John Rich became heated when Canseco called Rich’s country RV jingle “hickish,” and Survivor’s Richard Hatch implied country music fans are uneducated.
Somehow Busey was unaffected or unaware of all the tension on Backbone. He told Ivanka Trump: “It’s going great. Every team member I have is like a color of the rainbow!” Not sure what rainbow Busey dreams up in his head.
In the Trump boardroom, things got eerily boring. Taylor took full responsibility for her team’s loss and laid dead. There was no arguing, no mudslinging, no almost fist matches. But Taylor’s lay down was a move which Trump surprisingly admired.
“Niki, you’re basically willing to take responsibility for your loss? I respect that. Niki you’re fantastic, but other than that, you’re fired,” said the Donald.
Did you catch Celebrity Apprentice Sunday night? If not and you want to find out who got fired by Donald Trump, look no further.
THE RECAP: The Donald asked the two competing teams to each create a children’s story book. As part of the task, the teams had to also put on a performance telling the story to a group of four and five-year-old children.
Meat Loaf joyfully stepped up as the project manager for Team Backbone. Lisa Rinna, on the other hand, was not able to wiggle her way out of being pushed into leading Team A.S.A.P. As it turns out, some of Rinna’s team members nominated her as the team leader so they could watch her fail and be kicked off the show.
Team Backbone told the story of a sad Lil’ Jon and Team A.S.A.P. took a page out of The Wizard of Oz and tried to tell the tale of a lion, LaToya Jackson, who could not roar.
Dionne Warwick proved to be a diva on the warpath with anyone who crossed her way, but especially team manager, Rinna. Star Jones also brought out the big guns and they both fought Rinna every step of the way, including insistence that their names be on the cover of the collective team’s finished book. “The story was conceived by Dionne Warwick, written by Star Jones. Give credit where it’s due,” Warwick complained to Rinna.
Well, the women lost in the end because their moral lesson (created mostly by Warwick) of “just be yourself” was way to heavy for children, plus the font used for the book (chosen by Jones) needed a magnifying glass to be legible. Rinna of course brought in Warwick and Jones into the boardroom for Team A.S.A.P. and the three faced The Donald in a fight against elimination. Well, at least two of them were ready for a fight.
Team Warwick and Jones combated sole player Rinna who not only failed to stand up for herself, she admitted she has “so much to learn” as a project manager. The Donald loved Rinna’s surgically repaired “new lips” and so much as said so but that admiration did not save Rinna from getting the big “You’re Fired” tagline spewed at her face.
