We started the episode with the team in the suite congratulating La Toya Jackson for talking her way back on the show. She tells everyone, “I really fought in his office….I’m a force to be reckoned with.” Marlee Matlin said to the camera that it was not fair to allow La Toya back.

WATCH MORE: FULL EPISODE VIDEO FROM 5/8 SHOW

Star Jones and NeNe Leakes returned to the suite. La Toya hugged NeNe. Star admitted to the camera that she only told NeNe she would discuss her outburst only to get herself out of that situation. “I had no intention of talking.”

NeNe on the other hand tells everyone “I actually told Star I need to have a conversation with her.” She later told the camera that Star is no where to be found, which “means she can’t stand the heat. I get it, you’re scared. We’ll be fighting ’till the end. Game on. I thought you were strong Ms. Jones. Come back and play with the big girls honey.”

At the task assignment, Trump said he had really hoped NeNe and Star could have worked things out. Trump asked Star if things can be worked out between the two and Star said no. So, Trump made Meat Loaf and NeNe switch teams. 

Trump then asked Star “Do you feel better now?” When Star said she did, NeNe was surprised. She told the camera afterwards, “I am not in a good place right now. And I just need to be alone and that’s all I know to do right now. As I walk out of the comedy club, I am not sure what I need to do, I just know that I need some time.” We then cut to team Backbone, NeNe’s new team, and they have no idea where NeNe is. “Where the hell is NeNe at man, for real,” asked Lil Jon. They frantically try to call her but no one can get a hold of her, so, they started the task without her.

John Rich made a cute little diddy called, “Where the hell is NeNe” In the hopes that the song would conjure her up and get an extra person making calls for donations. It went something like this, “NeNe, NeNe, where the hell did you go? Guess you don’t wanna work today with your new team Backbone!”

Team Backbone told Ivanka that NeNe had disappeared who must have alerted her father. The Donald called NeNe on her cell phone and said he has never called anyone before but called her because she has “great ability.” He also warned her, “You should not quit. If you quit, it’s gonna follow you for the rest of your life.” NeNe shot back. You accommodated Star. You have seven talents that are still left. You can’t just accommodate her, that’s not fair.” NeNe then told the camera that Trump bought Star’s “Bullshit” and that she did not have to stay and put up with BS to raise money for her charity. “Best thing to do is for me to walk away.”

Both teams faced a problem right out of the gate: The had tapped out all their resources on previous fundraising tasks, so, they were having problems raising more money this late into the competition. Team Backbone got Jimmy Fallon to perform at their show, so, they thought that would help bring in an audience.

On Team A.S.A.P., Marlee volunteered to do a 20 minute piece called “Deaf Comedy” to relay funny things that happen to her in real life. Star got Tracy Morgan to do a short video clip for the show. 

The teams auditioned the comedians for their shows and as soon as that was over, the teams went back to calling their friends and contacts for more fundraising. La Toya had a hard time reaching out to her wealthy contacts due to the time difference and when she did reach someone, she would not push them too hard. She was disappointed that she could not land the million dollar donor she had thought she could. Instead, she had raised about $18,000 so far. Jimmy Fallon helped a bit by donating $10,000 to the cause.

Meat Loaf on the other hand was rocking the donations for Team A.S.A.P. but felt really deflated when it hit him that all the money he’s raised would go to La Toya‘s charity instead of his “kids” if he loses. And that’s when his meltdown started. He started crying, “I cannot gamble that money that was meant for that camp to play this game.” Star told Meat Loaf that she would call Trump and ask if the losing team could keep its own donations. That calmed Meat Loaf down a bit.

Star called Trump and told him about Meat Loaf‘s emotional attachment to the funds he was raising and asked if they could keep the earnings if they lose. Trump said, no, because that would take the incentive away from winning. Since Trump was on speaker phone and Meat Loaf could hear every word, he started to cry again. Meat Loaf told the camera later, still crying, “I can’t gamble the money for the kids. My heart won’t allow that.”

“It’s killing me, it’s absolutely destroying me,” Meat Loaf continued until the ladies made him concentrate on the show but he seemed lost and disoriented. La Toya on the other hand was so excited and could not wait for the show to start. Once the show started, Meat Loaf totally changed and took command of the stage as the emcee.

Team Backbone did great during their show as well, with Jimmy Fallon singing his song about the life on Celebrity Apprentice. He started with, “Sitting in the boardroom, The Donald staring into my eyes, his hair, staring into my soul! Just hoping. Just praying the two words don’t come out of his mouth. ‘Ye’r fired, ye’r fired, take that rolling suitcase out the door, ye’r fired ye’r fired, you son of a bitch you’re fired and don’t you mess with Team Backbone’….” 

Meat Loaf started crying again in the boardroom. “I have such an emotional attachment to my charity.” He then compared what he is doing to a father taking rent money to Vegas and gambling it away. Meat Loaf then gushed over his new team, and they gushed over him. Marlee said, “He is a gem….he is a keeper.”

Donald then said let’s talk about NeNe. “The fact is, she left. She quit. She gave up…We’ve had this happen before and those people have always called me and said it was the worst decision they’ve ever made because everyone calls them a ‘loser, a quitter.’ So, to you NeNe I say, ‘You’re fired. You’re a quitter and Star Jones kicked your ass whether you like it or not.” Ah, well said Donald, but you realize NeNe was NOT in the room, right? And you realize that can’t fire someone who’s quit…just FYI…

Donald then started gushing about La Toya. He said he didn’t know much about her before but he thought she was “Solid,” and that she had totally transformed her image on the show. “It’s really brought you to a new level.” Her teammates agreed. “This girl’s got a lot of fight than I’ve ever seen,” said John Rich.

John also admitted his team missed Meat Loaf tremendously. And then, there was the ‘Oh my God moment’ of the show: John Rich told Meat Loaf that if his team loses, John would pay Meat Loaf’s charity out of his own pocket in the amount matching what Meat Loaf had raised. John said, “I will do it as your friend. That’s how much you mean to me brother. You are the man, you are great, so you don’t need to worry. I got you on that.” So, of course, Meat Loaf started crying again. “Working with John and watching Marlee…I tell you Donald what you have done for me. This show has made me want to be a better person and has taught me things I did not know I knew. So, thank you very very much Mr. Trump.” Ah, that’s all sweet and dandy Meat Loaf, but you wanna thank John too? That was an incredibly nice gesture.

Now, as to the winner, Team A.S.A.P. raised $102,080. Team Backbone lost as they only raised $82,500. And Meat Loaf cried yet again. And I am sure John Rich took a sigh of relief as his pocketbook was left intact. Meat Loaf giddily ran out of the boardroom and called “baby” and told her he had raised $192K for his charity, The Painted Turtle. He then said three of his best good-feel moments in life were his children and winning this task.

When it came time to a firing, John Rich said he raised the most money. La Toya said she had nothing bad to say about anyone on her team and said they were both equally good. When asked, Lil Jon said he’d fire the ‘project manager’ if they were the one raising the least amount in funds which La Toya had. Donald told La Toya that she set a record by being the only celebrity ever allowed back after being fired. But he quickly followed that by saying she set another record, being the only person fired twice on the show. La Toya took the news well. “You are fired, but we love you.” And with that, La Toya walked off Michael Jackson Billy Jean style into the cab…If you missed that, you must watch it. I have the full episode coming soon.


WATCH VIDEO CLIP OF LA TOYA BEING FIRED TWICE!

TASK # 2 – ON STAR COMMERCIAL
On Star is now available for sale for any existing car at Best Buy. Our stars were tasked with creating a commercial to introduce this new product on the market. John Rich volunteered to be the project manager for Team Backbone. Marlee Matlin agreed to lead Team A.S.A.P. which made for a rematch between the two, Marlee having won round 1.

During the task, John Rich felt sick with a possible case of a bad sinus infection and he was in charge of writing the commercial – that made life real tough on the guy and he was not able to concentrate well. That left Lil Jon as the one feeling the most pressure since he was the only healthy person on the team. Somehow John came up with the commercial concept despite the torture he was going through. Lil Jon starred in the commercial and he brought his full energy to it.

Meat Loaf decided for Team A.S.A.P. to have their commercial be about a police officer using On Star to find a donut shop. Cliche much? Star freaked out when she realized Meat Loaf had no script for the commercial and wanted to improvise. Meat Loaf said it was Star’s job to come up with Script and she was just stalling. He then became worried that she was stalling on purpose to sabotage him. Star, as one of the stars of the On Star commercial for her team, kept messing up her speech and blamed Meat Loaf for not having a proper script. At the end of the shoot, Meat Loaf and Marlee wanted to film a shot of the On Star box but Star insisted that they already had the shot and they should instead move on to editing (THIS becomes a big issue in the boardroom.)

Both teams had a hard time during editing phase of the task. Team Backbone had too much special effects to fix and John Rich put a lot of “blind trust” in Lil Jon to get the visuals correct. On Team A.S.A.P., Star said to the camera that her strength is not editing so she said if they do badly in that department, it’s their fault. Both teams were able to finish their videos in time.

The teams presented their commercials to the execs and to me, the execs did not seem thrilled with either effort. They met with Trump and told him that Team A.S.A.P.’s commercial had a great theme which told an entertaining story. They also said that although this team had a more ambitious concept, the commercial was softer on the message that this was a new way of getting On Star in your car. They said Meat Loaf did not get what the On Star brand message is about and that he made the police officer comical whereas to On Star, police officers are heroes.  About Team Backbone they said Lil Jon had great energy and did a great job identifying the news that this was a new way of getting On Star. They did say he may have been a bit over the top. But they agreed that Team Backbone sold the idea that this was a brand new way to get On Star. They were disappointed that in one of the driving shots, the driver was not wearing a seatbelt which renders On Star unusable.

IN THE BOARDROOM FOR TASK #2
John and Lil Jon sang each other’s praises, with John saying the show has allowed the two diverse performers the opportunity to work in harmony together and has broken down a lot of barriers.

Trump then moved on to Team Backbone. “You look good tonight, Meat Loaf, you look good. You are so much more handsome, you know, I am not a gay man, I think gayness is wonderful frankly, but I am not a gay man. You seem so much more good looking, what the f#@ck did you do?” Meat Loaf said Celebrity Apprentice has kept him in shape. Trump then questioned why Meat Loaf did the vignettes and not Marlee the project manager.

After watching Team A.S.A.P.s commercial, John said they had missed the main point that On Star is now available at your local retail store and that you can buy it. “I may be deaf, but I think I heard it at the end of the commercial,” Marlee snapped back. “I would put it at the end and the beginning,” John rebutted.

They then watched the men’s commercial. Marlee said the men’s commercial was not as warm and as personal as theirs was. Star admitted she enjoyed their commercial but didn’t like theirs any more. Neither women seemed too convinced of themselves. Team Backbone did not like the other team’s commercial at all and the execs agreed with them: Team Backbone won the task.

WHO GOT FIRED?

I personally think without NeNe around, there was no longer a need for Trump to keep Star around either for ratings purposes based on the drama the two were able to create, so, that is why Star heard the famous, “You’re fired” motto. But not before she put up a fight.

Marlee said Meat Loaf brought a different style to the team and even if it is a brilliant style, it may have caused the loss. Meat Loaf defended his choice of a comical police officer. Star said she felt Meat Loaf’s idea of humor was something they had not tried before and she felt Meat Loaf had said he would take responsibility for it.

Marlee said she would fire Meat Loaf because they were not accustomed to his off kilter style. Star said she would fire Meat Loaf because the commercial was not what the execs were looking for. Meat Loaf said as far as branding was concerned, that was Star’s job. Star said yes, the branding was her responsibility but not scene selection. She also said she is the one that put the ending brand logo (and not the box) into the commercial. Star said Meat Loaf, “Tell the truth. You had a shot of the box why didn’t you use it?” Meat Loaf asked, “Why didn’t Marlee? Why didn’t you?”

Trump asked the three to leave the boardroom. During their conversation outside, Meat Loaf called Star, “sweetie” and Star hit the roof. “Don’t ‘sweetie’, I am a grown woman. I hate that.” The two then went back and forth on whose fault it was that the commercial lacked a shot of the box.  Meat Loaf said Star may be an attorney but he can argue as “good” as she can. Star walked away as she often has and said, “Stop, I don’t even want to talk anymore. You have to come to me with my credentials to get me to debate with you. Enough. Enough.” Meat Loaf said, “Don’t you cut me off, how dare you cut me off young woman.”

Back to the boardroom. Trump asked Meat Loaf what was going on outside. He said Star was not arguing back and would not look Meat Loaf in the eye so she must have been lying. Star said there was never a script. She said she begged Meat Loaf for a script and he said all ideas were in his head. Trump then got on Marlee’s case for not having overruled that.  She said Meat Loaf said, “Trust me.”

Trump asked Star why she got offended by being called “sweetie” and said he was tired of this politically-correct crap. Star said in a debate calling a woman “sweetie” diminishes a woman’s status.  Trump then challenged her and said that she had refused to debate Meat Loaf outside so, there was no debate. Trump then said Star didn’t get along with NeNe and now she was not getting along with Meat Loaf either and everyone gets along with Meat Loaf (Guess Trump forgot Gary Busey). “What’s wrong with you Star?” Trump asked.

Trump asked Marlee who was in charge of branding – and Marlee said Star was in charge of branding message. Star said she could not tell Meat Loaf what to put in the commercial. Trump said the On Star people said the branding missed the mark. “You were in charge of branding, you’re fired Star.” Marlee let out a loud sigh of disbelief.


Bye bye Star….Watch the video clip of her being fired:

BONUS: Watch Star’s exit interview not shown on the show: