'Helped create a monster': NBC exec says he 'did irreparable harm' marketing 'The Apprentice'

17 October 2024

The former NBC employee in charge of marketing former President Donald Trump's reality TV show, "The Apprentice" (and its spinoff, "Celebrity Apprentice") recently published a mea culpa acknowledging his role in creating the "illusion" of success that led to Trump's political ascendancy.

According to the Hill, ex-NBC executive John D. Miller is now admitting he played a significant part in convincing the American public that Trump was a respected and skilled business leader. Miller wrote an op-ed in U.S. News & World Report this week saying he "helped create a monster" by aggressively marketing the show — and Trump by proxy — to Americans for 14 seasons.

"At NBC, we promoted the show relentlessly. Thousands of 30-second promo spots that spread the fantasy of Trump’s supposed business acumen were beamed over the airwaves to nearly every household in the country," he wrote. "The image of Trump that we promoted was highly exaggerated. In its own way, it was 'fake news' that we spread over America like a heavy snowstorm. I never imagined that the picture we painted of Trump as a successful businessman would help catapult him to the White House."

Miller revealed that he learned Trump was "extraordinarily easy to manipulate" while working with him over the years. He noted that while Trump himself was "manipulative," anyone could get him to do what they wanted him to do by simply offering repeated, effusive praise.

"He has an unfillable compliment hole. No amount is too much. Flatter him and he is compliant," he wrote. "World leaders, including apparently Russian strongman Vladimir Putin and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, have discovered that too."

At one point during the show's run, Miller recalled how Trump approached him with the idea of pitting Black contestants against white contestants in an upcoming season. The marketing executive was unable to convince him that the idea was bad on its face for its blatant racism, so he instead had to persuade him to abandon the idea by saying the show would lose advertising revenue (Trump is also rumored to have used the n-word on set while filming the show).

"My first thought was: WTF?! I tried to get through to him by speaking the language he understands: money," he wrote. "I explained that sponsors wouldn’t want to be associated with a show that pitted races against each other. But he could not understand why this was such a bad idea. (And, no, we did not use his idea.)"

According to Miller, Trump wasn't even the first choice for the show, but producers ultimately chose to cast him as host because other business leaders they approached were simply too busy running their companies to spend time hosting a reality TV show. Executives were also unwilling to hire "random game show winners" for their executive teams. Miller observed that even the boardroom used on the show was a set, because Trump's actual boardroom was too "shabby" for national TV.

"While we were successful in marketing 'The Apprentice,' we also did irreparable harm by creating the false image of Trump as a successful leader," he wrote. "I deeply regret that. And I regret that it has taken me so long to go public."

Miller concluded his essay by endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris in the upcoming election despite describing himself as a "born-and-bred Republican." He added: "If you believe that Trump will be better for you or better for the country, that is an illusion, much like 'The Apprentice' was."

Click here to read The Hill's full article. And click here to read Miller's op-ed in U.S. News & World Report.

From Your Site Articles