UPDATED 10/27/16
Brande Roderick has released a statement in response to the allegations made that Donald Trump repeatedly proposed to her during her time on The Apprentice. Roderick called the allegations "laughable" and a "lie" writing on Instagram: "I want to address the article that came out this morning in the daily beast and many others that have now circulated regarding my relationship with Mr. Donald Trump. The story is a complete lie. While on the celebrity apprentice Mr. Trump never approached me or asked me out, was never inappropriate in any way let alone ask me to marry him. This whole story is laughable... My experience on The Apprentice was that of professionalism and respect. With that said, I completely rebuke this story."
See original story below.
Another Daily Beastreport about Donald Trump’s days on The Apprentice alleges Trump, who was married, repeatedly proposed to contestant and Playboy Playmate Brande Roderick. According to several employees of the show, Trump would also go around saying he wanted to have sex with Roderick and talked about her “perfect body.”
Roderick, who was married in 2007, appeared on season eight of The Apprentice (a.k.a. Season two of Celebrity Apprentice) and then again on season 13 of The Apprentice (a.k.a. Season six of Celebrity Apprentice). Trump’s “sexual obsession,” as one former Apprentice staffer called it, with Roderick began in the 2009 Apprentice season. Trump married his current wife Melania in 2005.
“[Trump] kept proposing to her and telling her how beautiful she was. I think he was trying to be charming,” said one of three former Apprentice staffers who spoke to The Daily Beast, asking to be remain anonymous to stay within the terms of a non-disclosure agreement. “When he invited her back for another season [of The Apprentice], he kept asking repeatedly again, saying he wanted her as his wife. It was typical Donald…[and] creepy.”
One staffer said Trump was “leering” after Roderick during the whole 13th season. “She definitely became something of a sexual obsession to him, and everyone could see it… Again, that wasn’t shocking to anyone on the show. At that point, after many years, it was just him being Trump.”
More than one person recalled Trump’s comments going beyond calling Roderick beautiful or proposing to her. A source recalled Trump talking about Roderick and saying, “I would f**k her, take her now.”
The staffer said, “He would say really gross shit about her all the time, sometimes in the boardroom—that he said these things about her was the least surprising thing, really.” According to the staffer Trump’s comments about Roderick’s body were common. Another staffer, who said Trump said “crude” and “awful” things about Roderick a lot, couldn’t recall exact comments Trump made, but did know ‘f**k’ and ‘tits’ were used.
Trump’s alleged crude comments seem plausible when you recall Trump telling Roderick, "It must be a pretty picture, you dropping to your knees," during season 13.
A former Apprentice staffer said Trump had to be told what he couldn’t say while cameras were rolling. “It’d be ‘f**k’ this, ‘how do you think you’d want to f**k her’ that, ‘what do you think about her ass’ [that], ‘what do you think about her tits,’” recalled the staffer. “It was a daily thing! It was like nothing was on his mind except for sex.”
Other allegations about Trump during season 13 of The Apprentice include Trump calling contestant Lil Jon an Uncle Tom (which Lil Jon confirmed), and reportedly laughing after finding out an Apprentice staffer was groped by Apprentice contestant Gary Busey.
After Trump’s “dropping to your knees” comment was brought up at a debate last year, Roderick told MSNBC she didn’t remember he had said that.
“He’s never been disrespectful to me,” Roderick said. “I don’t condone men being derogatory, but I think he was just—he’s on television, he’s trying to be funny. I don’t think that he meant anything horrible by it.”
