Donald Trump Wanted OJ Simpson to Appear on 'Celebrity Apprentice'

In case you somehow forgot, a new CNN Money report would like to remind you that Donald Trump once wanted O.J. Simpson on “Celebrity Apprentice.”

NBC wasn’t too keen on the idea, and issued a statement in April 2008 saying: “NBC representatives have never considered O.J. Simpson for the next season of ‘The Apprentice,’ nor will.”

But Trump didn’t drop the notion, and repeated his casting idea on “The Howard Stern Show” in July 2008.

Also Read: Donald Trump Mocks NFL's 'Soft' Concussion Protocol (Video)

“I do have to tell you about O.J. and ‘The Apprentice,'” he said. “NBC went totally crazy when I wanted to put O.J. on ‘The Apprentice.'”

Trump said that he had been friendly with the former NFL star and played golf with him, but cut off social ties when he “realized he killed his wife.” Simpson was acquitted in the murders of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman.

Also Read: Mark Burnett: 'I Am Not 'Pro-Trump

When asked by Howard Stern why he would then want to put Simpson on his show, Trump replied: “Well, you know, in your business, there’s a thing called ratings. And, you know you can come up with a cure for cancer — I found out a lot about your business — because, hey, I’m the biggest star. I’m now the biggest star,” he said, CNN Money reported.

“So I know that if you come up with a cure for cancer, and if you put it on, and if it doesn’t get ratings, they will not broadcast it. So, you come with a cure for a disease, no good. Now, I know this if I put O.J. on huge ratings. Oh, forget it, 35 million people,” he added.

After being acquitted of the double murder in 1995, Simpson was found guilty of armed robbery in a bizarre case involving his own memorabilia being stolen at gunpoint from a Las Vegas hotel room.

On Dec. 5, 2008, Simpson was sentenced to a total of 33 years in prison, with the possibility of parole after about nine years, in 2017.

Also Read: Billy Bush Hires Crisis Communications Firm Goldin Solutions in Wake of Trump Video Scandal

The only way Simpson is appearing on TV in the near future is by having his story told in dramatic and documentary form on FX’s “People v OJ Simpson” and ESPN “30 for 30” series “O.J. Made in America.”

Listen to the audio from Trump talking to Stern below.

'People v OJ Simpson': 9 Weird Facts It Didn't Include (Photos)

If you're watching "The People v OJ Simpson" in light of Simpson's release from prison, get ready for some surprises. But the most amazing details in the FX miniseries were true. And the show didn't even include some of the strangest facts about Simpson's life -- although some made it into ESPN's "OJ: Made in America" (pictured). Here are nine bizarre details FX left out.
1. Marcia Clark Was Packing

"In light of her high public profile, the detectives in the Simpson case had prevailed upon Clark to start carrying a gun," Jeffrey Toobin writes in "The Run of His Life."
Clark (played by Sarah Paulson) once missed a flight because she forgot about her gun and had to fill out federal forms to carry it.
FX
2. Johnnie Cochran: Two Times a Family Man

In the 1970s, Cochran had two families, one of which he kept secret from the other.
CNN
While living with his wife Barbara, Cochran (Courtney B. Vance) also had a relationship with his secretary, Patty, who later changed her last name to Cochran. They traveled, bought property and had a child together. He also had two daughters with Barbara.
FX
3. From Witness to Ghostwriter

Screenwriter Pablo Fenjves testified against Simpson about hearing the "plaintive wail" of Nicole Brown Simpson's Akita when she was murdered. Later, he ghost-wrote Simpson's book "If I Did It."
4. Lance Ito Bashed the State Supreme Court

Toobin writes that when Ito (Kenneth Choi) was a prosecutor, he despised California's liberal Supreme Court so much that he had a custom vanity plate referring to them as "7 BOZOS."
FX
5. Ito Had Crazy Game

Ito met his future wife, Margaret York, in the most unromantic setting possible: at a homicide scene, at 4 a.m.
Getty Images
6. OJ Was Jealous of Kato

The reason Kato Kaelin was living with OJ, Toobin writes, is that he had formerly been a tenant in Nicole Brown Simpson's guest house.
Getty Images
When Nicole moved into a new home, she intended for Kato to move in and help babysit her kids. But Simpson objected to Kato living under the same roof as his ex-wife. So he let him stay at his own home.
Getty Images
"OJ's offer thus simultaneously removed a potential rival for Nicole's affections and took money out of his ex-wife's pocket," Toobin wrote.
Getty Images
7. There Was a Gross Mark Fuhrman-Nicole Brown Simpson Rumor

There were unsubstantiated reports that Mark Furhman (Steven Pasquale) bragged to other officers about having sex with Nicole Brown Simpson and complimented her "boob job." Two detectives who were said to have heard of the alleged bragging later denied they had.
YouTube
Johnnie Cochran repeatedly brought up the "boob job" talk in court on Sept. 1, 1995. Here's the transcript.
FX
8. OJ's Son v OJ

Simpson's son, Jason, once took a bat to OJ's statue of himself. Jason said in a deposition that he wasn't mad at his dad: "I wanted a party, and I was gonna throw a party, and I got busted. My dad found out that I was going to have a party that night. He said I couldn't have a party."
FX
9. The Juror Who Gave the Black Power Salute Was an Ex-Black Panther

The show accurately showed a juror giving Simpson a black power salute. What it didn't include was that the juror, Lionel (Lon) Cryer, was “a former Black Panther whom prosecutors had inexplicably left on the panel.”
If you liked this gallery, you might like this list of bizarre details "The People v OJ Simpson" got right...
FX
... and this list of what "The People v OJ Simpson" got wrong.
FX

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As OJ Simpson walks free, here are some details that didn’t make it into FX’s devastating miniseries

If you're watching "The People v OJ Simpson" in light of Simpson's release from prison, get ready for some surprises. But the most amazing details in the FX miniseries were true. And the show didn't even include some of the strangest facts about Simpson's life -- although some made it into ESPN's "OJ: Made in America" (pictured). Here are nine bizarre details FX left out.

View In Gallery

'People v OJ Simpson': 9 Weird Facts It Didn't Include (Photos)

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