Arnold Schwarzenegger Is Leaving ‘The Celebrity Apprentice’ and Its ‘Baggage’
He won’t be back. Arnold Schwarzenegger has apparently fired himself from his hosting gig on NBC’s The Celebrity Apprentice. In a statement, Schwarzenegger said that he loved working with NBC, producer Mark Burnett and the entire crew, and that “I would absolutely work with all of them again on a show that doesn’t have this baggage.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger told NBC he’s leaving “The Celebrity Apprentice.” Here’s his statement: pic.twitter.com/HXS6w1vqlb
— John Koblin (@koblin) March 3, 2017
In an interview with the UK’s Empire posted Friday, Schwarzenegger explained more about just what that “baggage” is.
“With [Donald] Trump being involved in the show,” he told the outlet, “people have a bad taste and don’t want to participate as a spectator or as a sponsor or in any other way to support the show.”
It’s been no secret that neither Trump nor Schwarzenegger have been very happy with each other lately. Throughout Schwarzenegger’s stint as host earlier this year, he and Trump had a war of words (and tweets) over the show’s flagging ratings, with Trump— the former Apprentice host and now, of course, U.S. president—even calling out Arnold at the National Prayer Breakfast. The two sparred back-and-forth, Trump calling out Schwarzenegger’s TV ratings, Arnold calling out Trump’s approval ratings.
President Trump has not weighed in on this news on Twitter at this point. More to come, we’re sure.
UPDATE 3/4/17: Trump weighed in on Arnold’s departure on Twitter this morning, stating his belief that Schwarzenegger was fired from The Celebrity Apprentice:
Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t voluntarily leaving the Apprentice, he was fired by his bad (pathetic) ratings, not by me. Sad end to great show
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017
And … Arnold has fired back at that tweet:
You should think about hiring a new joke writer and a fact checker. https://t.co/SvAjuPdHfa
— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) March 4, 2017
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