Internet demands release of tape as 'The Apprentice' ex-producer Bill Pruitt claims Donald Trump used N-word on set

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: One of the former producers of 'The Apprentice,' Bill Pruitt, who was under a nondisclosure agreement for two decades has spoken up and claimed that Donald Trump used the N-word on the set which was captured on tape.

Bill Pruitt worked on the first seasons of the NBC reality show which aired in 2004 and ran until 2017. Trump, who starred in the show, had not joined the political arena then. 

Donald Trump wanted White contestants to win 

Pruitt said during a discussion with Trump over who among the contestants —Jackson or Bill Rancic who is White should win. 

Trump weighed Rancic should win. But when he was informed about some of the traits of Jackson, Trump disregarded it.

“Yeah, but, I mean, would America buy a n— winning?”  to refer to the first season’s Black finalist, Pruitt wrote in an article in Slate, in which he also described how Trump was in reality. 

Bill Pruitt wished he had never returned to set after the incident

Pruitt wrote that following Trump's comments, they got uncomfortable and Kepcher’s pale skin turned "bright red."

"I turn my gaze toward Trump. He continues to wince. He is serious, and he is adamant about not hiring Jackson," Pruitt wrote.

He said the topic was somehow changed and they wrapped shooting of the scene where Rancic is favored.

“There is no discussion about what Trump said in the boardroom about how the damning evidence was caught on tape. Nothing happens,” Pruitt said.

He further wrote, “None of us thinks to walk out the door and never return. I still wish I had," Deadline reports.

Donald Trump's campaign communications director says it is a 'b******t story'

In a statement to the publication, Trump’s campaign communications director Steven Cheung panned the story saying it was "B******t."

“This is a completely fabricated and b*******t story that was already peddled in 2016," Cheung told the publication.  

"Nobody took it seriously then, and they won’t now, because it’s fake news. Now that Crooked Joe Biden and the Democrats are losing the election, they are bringing up old fake stories from the past because they are desperate," he further wrote in the statement. 

Trump himself denied claims that he used the racial epithet. In 2018, when contestant Omarosa Manigault Newman claimed that she heard the N-word tape while Trump alleged there were no tapes.

"Hearing it changed everything for me," Newman told NPR back then. 

Trump declined it and wrote on X, formerly Twitter, “@MarkBurnettTV called to say that there are NO TAPES of the Apprentice where I used such a terrible and disgusting word as attributed by Wacky and Deranged Omarosa. I don’t have that word in my vocabulary, and never have. She made it up.”

Internet reacts to Donald Trump refusing that he used the N-word 

"Release the tape or it doesn't matter," a pro-Trump supporter wrote on X. 

One suggested, "Mark Burnett knows exactly what went down. And he likely has it on video!"

"We need that tape released, it will sink him and his campaign," wrote one more. 

"I’d like to have the tapes released but that’s not going to happen remember the producer who owns the show & all the material is a trumper and will not do anything to hurt trump," wrote another user. 

"If there's no way to get the tapes released this is just a rehash of an old story. If people don't hear it in Trump's voice they won't care, and many will just pretend it's edited," demanded one more user.

"Please produce the tape. For the good of the country," asked one more. 

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.