Over 48,000 people have signed a women’s advocacy group’s petition demanding MGM and NBC “stop protecting” Donald Trump and release tapes from “The Apprentice,” following allegations that the GOP candidate used the n-word on the show.
UltraViolet Action’s petition is just 1,300 signatures shy of its 50,000 goal, while a MoveOn.org petition has amassed over 73,000 signatures for the same issue. Both petitions — with a combined 121,000 signatures — will likely reach their goal today, the same day the organizations teamed up with over 3,000 sexual assault survivors to take out a full-page ad in the Washington Post, asking the Republicans to “stop enabling” Trump.
“If you thought the tape of Donald Trump bragging about sexual assault to NBC’s Billy Bush was bad, buckle up,” the identical petitions read. “Multiple TV producers are now saying there’s worse footage, much worse, of Trump saying sexually predatory and extremely racist things.”
“But NBC is refusing to release the footage. In fact for a year now, the network has been protecting Trump–from Matt Lauer’s biased presidential forum to Jimmy Fallon‘s softball interview with Trump,” the petitions continue. “With 29 days left until the election, voters deserve to know just how much of a racist, hate-filled serial sexual predator Trump is.”
On Friday, a video surfaced in which the Republican nominee for president boasted about kissing, groping and having sex with women, saying that “when you’re a star, they let you do anything.”
“I’m automatically attracted to beautiful women — I just start kissing them, it’s like a magnet,” Trump told “Access Hollywood” host Bush in a conversation that was caught on a hot mic in 2005.
“I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything,” he said. “Grab ’em by the p—y.”
During the second presidential debate, Trump apologized for the conversation he described as “locker room talk.”
According to the New York Daily News, producer Chris Nee said Sunday that she heard producers of “The Apprentice” are sitting on footage in which the GOP nominee uses the n-word. While she didn’t work on the show, she claimed that she had signed a contract with lead producer Mark Burnett that would make anyone leaking the footage liable for a $5 million fine.
Her tweets referenced a comment made by Bill Pruitt, who tweeted Saturday that “there are far worse” comments than he made on the Trump Tapes.
As a producer on seasons 1 & 2 of #theapprentice I assure you: when it comes to the #trumptapes there are far worse. #justthebegininng
— Bill Pruitt (@billpruitt) October 8, 2016
However, Burnett countered those claims in a statement from him and MGM, saying those claims are “unequivocally false” and adding that that he does “not have the ability nor the right to release footage or other material from ‘The Apprentice.’”
The Associated Press corroborated the notion that “The Apprentice” is sitting on the makings of an even bigger scandal than the 2005 tape. The outlet interviewed more than 20 former “Apprentice” contestants, crew members and editors who said Trump was regularly disparaging toward women and used sexist language.
“If there was a break in the conversation, he would then look at one of the female cast members, saying ‘You’re looking kind of hot today, I love that dress on you,’ then he would turn to one of the male cast members and say ‘Wouldn’t you sleep with her?’ and then everyone would laugh,” a former crew member said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of a non-disclosure agreement.
“For years, NBC and Mark Burnett have protected Donald Trump and built his brand. But the 2005 leaked video of Donald Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women changes things,” said Nita Chaudhary, co-founder of UltraViolet Action. “NBC and MGM Studios need to stop protecting Donald Trump and release these tapes. The American people deserve to know if Donald Trump is a serial sexual predator and racist before heading to the polls this November.”
UltraViolet Action is an online community of over 1 million men and women who seek to fight sexism.