Donald Trump’s latest narrative that Barack Obama wasn’t good enough to get into the colleges and be editor of the Harvard Law Review has brought him charges of racism and npossibly be the cause of a reported sudden drop in his TV show’s ratings. But now, according to Pop Eater columnist Ron Shuter, he could be facing an even bigger threat: celebrities may want to distance themselves from him and not appear on his programs.
“Attacking stars like Rosie O’Donnell or Martha Stewart is one thing, but to go after the president is taking Donald down a path that’s going to do long term damage to his brand,” one TV casting director tells me.
If he had a provocative, no-holds barred talk show on FOX News or a similar radio show, then his recent comments about Obama’s birth might help, my insider believes.
“But for guy with a show on NBC in primetime that needs celebrities to sign up in order for it to be a success, this is potential suicide.”
Before his morphing into a political figure, Trump famously feuded with O’Donnell and Stewart. Since then, due to his now discredited campaign to suggest Barack Obama wasn’t born in the United States, he has feuded with Jerry Seinfeld and Robert DeNiro.
Once you’ve got the “racist” label on you, it’s hard to come back.
“Every year it’s been harder to find A-list stars to be part of the show. Let’s face it, this season the cast includes a Real Housewife and one of Michael Jackson’s sisters, when bigger stars passed,” an ‘Apprentice’ insider tells me. “Next season his only options will be Christine O’Donnell, Glenn Beck and Ann Coulter.”
Another burning question is after all this ugly talk, will this year’s winner even accept the job once they are hired? Twitter campaigns have already begun asking several of this season’s contestants to boycott the finale.
A ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ spokesperson did not respond to my request for comment.
Will top celebrities fire Trump before he fires them?
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.