Who called who? And is Donald Trump now trying to save face — again?
Last week Trump told TMZ that he had called former Tiger Woods' mistress Rachel Uchitel and asked her to be on the next edition of NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice," which Trump hosts and executive produces — and that she agreed.
Then on Monday, after finding out that Uchitel would appear on VH1's "Celebrity Rehab," Trump told TMZ that he was no longer interested in Uchitel, and that it was actually she who approached him about being on the show.
In a New York Post story Tuesday, headlined "Rehab Trumps Apprentice," Trump was quoted as saying, "she wanted to come on the show," but that he was "very mixed" about the idea. He cited his friendship with Woods and said he didn't want to embarrass him by giving her a potential primetime TV platform for 16 weeks.
Clearly Trump was not happy that Uchitel had chosen to appear on "Rehab" prior to appearing on "Celebrity Apprentice." On Monday he told TMZ, "We have zero interest in her now."
Looking like the smartest people in this mess are NBC entertainment brass, who chose not to comment on the situation from the start. Late last week they had the network PR people tell TheWrap: "We're not commenting on any casting rumors, yet."
Now, that turns out to be the most prudent position of all.
It's not the first time that confusion reigned over a "Celebrity Apprentice" casting rumor: Just last month, Michael Lohan indicated that he was considering an offer from Trump to have either himself or his daughter Lindsay be a contestant; but Trump officials said they merely took a meeting with the Lohan camp. Nothing ever came of that, either.
