NEW YORK (AP) – Donald Trump’s continued stake in television’s “Celebrity Apprentice” adds to questions about potential conflicts between his personal and public responsibilities, while raising new ones about NBC.
If it continues, journalists at NBC News will be covering a president for a corporation whose entertainment division retains ties to the man. The reality show, which returns to NBC’s schedule on Jan. 2 with Arnold Schwarzenegger replacing Trump as host, includes the president-elect as one of its executive producers.
Trump spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway said Friday on CNN that Trump’s ties to the reality show are being reviewed by experts looking into the president-elect’s business ties. She compared Trump’s continued interest in the entertainment industry to President Barack Obama’s off-hours golfing.
“Presidents have a right to do things in their spare time, in their leisure time, and nobody objects to that,” she said.
The full nature of Trump’s involvement in “Celebrity Apprentice” is not clear. An “executive producer” credit is among the most amorphous in Hollywood, and can encompass a person with full backstage control over a show, to someone given a vanity title who doesn’t actually do anything. Trump is known to have a financial stake in the show, but how much is unclear; Conway said it’s “doubtful” that Trump will be taking money from the show, but added she hasn’t talked to him about it.