Holly Robinson Peete says Trump called her the N-word during ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ finale

The actress confirms rumors that the former TV reality show host used the racial slur

Nov 18, 2020

Donald Trump is no stranger to accusations of racism, but now the outgoing president has been called out by actress Holly Robinson Peete for once calling her the N-word during the filming of his once successful reality show The Celebrity Apprentice.

Tuesday, during an interview on SiriusXM’s The Karen Hunter Show, Peete recalled the incident which she alleges took place during the show’s season 9 finale that came down to a nail-biting final decision between Peete and singer Bret Michaels to determine the winner.

“I found him to be kind of piggish and bullish and stuff, but I didn’t find him to be just this…who he is now, I did not see that,” Peete began while reflecting about her time with Trump.

“Shortly after the finale, rumors started going around that he had tossed out an ‘N-word’ referring to me. “And I was like, ‘huh?’ When the producer told me when it happened, during the finale, I remember the moment. I wasn’t in earshot, but I could see them deciding between me and Bret Michaels.”

She elaborated by saying she saw Trump “talking with producers and they’re really animated and that was when I heard that he said, ‘They want the ‘N-word’ to win.’ Because I guess the network wanted me to win or me to be chosen and Trump wanted Bret.”

“And the quote was he ‘wanted the N-word to win’ and I heard it and you know, how could anybody believe that he wouldn’t say something like that? I firmly believe he probably uses that language all the time. And then by the time it sort of started resurfacing, I didn’t even really address it too much because I felt like, what difference is it going to make? People have accepted the things that he said that are so vile about so many other people, what difference is it going to make if he said that about me,” Peete explained.

Peete took part in the program to raise money for autism awareness through the HollyRod Foundation. She told Hunter that she agreed to appear on The Celebrity Apprentice before Trump revealed himself to be who we see today, noting, “Y’all don’t want to meet ‘Philadelphia Holly’ because ‘Philadelphia Holly’ is not the Holly everybody knows from TV.”

She did end on a positive note though, reveling at how her close friend Kamala Harris will now make history while ushering Trump out of the White House.

“When your friends get to high places, the good news is, is that you know their heart. You really do know their heart. And I think people will discover Kamala to be not just a very, very fierce and capable politician and advocate for people but she’s got a huge heart.”