IAC/InterActiveCorp Chairman Barry Diller calls “bulls—” on MGM’s claim that it can’t release unaired footage from “The Apprentice” in which Donald Trump allegedly says even worse things than he did on the leaked “Access Hollywood” tapes.
“I think it’s total bulls—,” Diller told Politico’s Playbook on Tuesday.
“There are no legal obligations,” Diller added. “To who? For what? I mean, the legal obligations are they own the copyright. They can do whatever they want with it.”
Also Read: 48,000 Join Women's Advocacy Group's Demand for NBC to Release Damning Trump 'Apprentice' Footage
On Monday, MGM Television released a statement stating that “various contractual and legal requirements also restrict MGM’s ability to release such material.” The statement also added that Mark Burnett, “The Apprentice” producer and president of MGM Television since 2015, “does not have the ability nor the right to release footage or other material from ‘The Apprentice.'”
Since Friday’s leak of the “Access Hollywood” tape, in which Trump made lewd comments about women to Billy Bush, Bill Pruitt, who says he was a producer on “The Apprentice” during Seasons 1 and 2, claimed to have firsthand knowledge of even more damning recordings of Trump.
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
The Associated Press corroborated the notion that “The Apprentice” is sitting on the makings of an even bigger scandal than the one involving former “Access Hollywood” host Bush. Before the lewd tape surfaced, 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.
Also Read: More Trump Tapes: 'Apprentice' Producer Warns Staff Not to Leak Material (Report)
Screenwriter and producer Chris Nee highlighted in a recent tweet that a breach of the show’s non-disclosure agreement would cost her $5 million. She also indicated that the use of the N-word is one of the scathing revelations in the unreleased footage — though she stopped short of attributing the word to Trump himself.
Two women’s advocacy groups are also demanding that MGM and NBC “stop protecting” Donald Trump and release tapes from “The Apprentice,” and their petitions have almost 180,000 signatures.
“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,” read the petitions. “With 29 days left until the election, voters deserve to know just how much of a racist, hate-filled serial sexual predator Trump is.”
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