NBC's former chief marketer: "I helped create a monster" by promoting Trump
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Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump during the Celebrity Apprentice live season finale on May 16, 2010, in New York City. Photo: Bill Tompkins/Getty Images
The former chief marketing officer of NBC apologized to the country in a Wednesday op-ed for helping craft and sell "a false narrative" on "The Apprentice" that former President Trump was a "a super-successful businessman."
Why it matters: The NBC reality competition show hosted by Trump depicted him as a tough, business-savvy boss and made him a household name long before his political ambitions led him to Washington.
- "I want to apologize to America. I helped create a monster," John Miller wrote in the piece published by U.S. News & World Report.
What he's saying: Miller, who retired in 2022 following a 40-plus year tenure with NBC, said the image the network promoted of the then-businessman Trump was "highly exaggerated."
- Miller noted Trump's several bankruptcies, saying the signature boardroom where he fired contestants was a set "because his real boardroom was too old and shabby for TV."
- He also noted the now-former president's tendency to hyperbolize, saying he often called the show "America's No. 1 TV show" despite ratings showing otherwise.
- "Exaggerating ratings is one thing, but spreading falsehoods about relief work of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, about immigrants eating cats and dogs, about the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, about him winning the 2020 election or countless other lies is far more dangerous," Miller wrote.
- He criticized what he called Trump's "questionable judgment," highlighting his pitch to have Black competitors compete against white ones on the show.
Zoom out: Bill Pruitt, a former producer for the show, claimed in a piece published by Slate earlier this year (after he said his NDA expired) that Trump used the N-word during the filming of "The Apprentice."
- Trump's campaign has denied Pruitt's claims.
- He shared Miller's sentiment, writing, "We played fast and loose with the facts, particularly regarding Trump, and if you were one of the 28 million who tuned in, chances are you were conned."
Miller added he regrets creating the "false image of Trump as a successful leader" and not going public sooner.
- He strongly urged even "born-and-bred" Republicans to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.
- "I spent 50 years successfully promoting television magic, making mountains out of molehills every day," Miller wrote.
- He continued: "But I say now to my fellow Americans, without any promotional exaggeration: If you believe that Trump will be better for you or better for the country, that is an illusion, much like 'The Apprentice' was."
Go deeper: NYT: Trump made $427 million from NBC's "The Apprentice"
