Former Apprentice producer alleges Donald Trump used racist slur with Black finalist on the show

Bill Pruitt, a former producer on The Apprentice, is detailing his time on the reality show with Donald Trump, accusing the former host of sexism and racism, including using the N-word about a Black finalist in the debut season.

In an essay for Slate published Thursday, Pruitt recalled the close race between finalists Kwame Jackson, a Black broker from Goldman Sachs, and Bill Rancic, a white entrepreneur who ran his own cigar business, alleging that Trump crowned Rancic the winner after calling Jackson the N-word while deliberating with showrunner Jay Bienstock and judge Carolyn Kepcher.

According to Pruitt, Kepcher observed that Jackson overcame more obstacles than Rancic and suggested to Trump that he "would be a great addition to the organization." Pruitt alleged Trump winced at the comments and "clearly" resisted it before posing the following question after a few more back and forths: “Yeah, but, I mean, would America buy a n— winning?”

"Kepcher’s pale skin goes bright red," Pruitt recalled. "I turn my gaze toward Trump. He continues to wince. He is serious, and he is adamant about not hiring Jackson." When production wrapped, "There is no discussion about what Trump said in the boardroom, about how the damning evidence was caught on tape," Pruitt claimed. "Nothing happens."

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

With his expansive 20-year nondisclosure agreement expiring this year, Pruitt also alleged that Trump "leered" at a female camera assistant, "assessed" the "physical attributes" of a female contestant, and ordered a female camera operator off an elevator because she was "too heavy." Pruitt's essay paints a portrait of a "sleazy New York tabloid hustler" who masqueraded as a businessman with "unparalleled wealth" — "even though his businesses had barely survived multiple bankruptcies and faced yet another when he was cast."

Steven Cheung, a spokesman for the Trump 2024 campaign, disputed all incidents in the essay, telling Slate, "This is a completely fabricated and bulls--- story that was already peddled in 2016."

Bienstock and Kepcher didn't respond to Slate's requests for comment and couldn't be reached for immediate comment by Entertainment Weekly. NBC, the network behind The Apprentice, declined to comment to Slate and didn't immediately respond to EW's request for comment.

"By carefully misleading viewers about Trump — his wealth, his stature, his character, and his intent— the competition reality show set about an American fraud that would balloon beyond its creators’ wildest imaginations," Pruitt wrote, adding that some days still haunt him amid Trump's hush money trial and as America "gears up to try to persuade Americans to elect him again, in part thanks to the myth we created."

Trump's career as a businessman and real estate mogul during the 1970s and '80s will be explored in Ali Abbasi's upcoming film The Apprentice, set to star Sebastian Stan as Trump. Following the film's premiere at Cannes last week, attorneys for the former president sent a cease-and-desist to the filmmakers in an effort to block its U.S. release.