'Apprentice' alum sues Trump over sexual assault denial

LOS ANGELES - One of about a dozen women who previously accused President-elect Donald Trump of making unwanted sexual advances filed a lawsuit against him in New York on Tuesday, alleging he had made false and defamatory statements about her in rejecting the accusation, causing her emotional and economic harm.

The lawsuit filed by Summer Zervos, a one-time contestant on Trump's reality television show "The Apprentice," is focused on a stream of denials Trump aimed at her and other women accusers last October, just weeks before the Nov. 8 presidential election, when Zervos and others came forward to accuse the then-candidate of making unwanted sexual advances.

A representative for Trump did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment on the lawsuit.

At the time the women made their accusations, Trump, a Republican, who went on to win the election and who takes office on Friday, adamantly denied all the accusations in posts on Twitter, statements, interviews and comments at rallies. He suggested at one rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Oct. 14 that the accusers were fabricating their stories for publicity or to damage his campaign.

With regard to Zervos specifically, Trump told the rally in Charlotte just hours after she made her allegations that it was "not hard to find a small handful of people willing to make false smears for personal fame, who knows maybe for financial reasons, political purposes," according to the lawsuit.

"Mr. Trump's false, defamatory statements about Ms. Zervos - that, among other things, she made up her descriptions of Mr. Trump's misconduct as a hoax, and that she is creating a 'phony' story just so that she can be famous - have been deeply detrimental to Ms. Zervos's reputation, honor and dignity," the lawsuit stated.

At a news conference in Los Angeles announcing the lawsuit on Tuesday, Zervos said she wanted Trump to apologize.

"Since Mr. Trump has not issued a retraction as I requested, he has therefore left me with no alternative other than to sue him in order to vindicate my reputation," Zervos said.

Her lawsuit said she was seeking "all possible remedies," including the apology and retraction, from Trump.

Zervos' attorney, Gloria Allred, a celebrity lawyer who also represents a number of women who have accused comedian Bill Cosby of sexual misconduct, raised the possibility at the news conference that Trump might be required to give a deposition in the case.

The lawsuit said Trump kissed Zervos without her consent at his office in New York in December 2007 and later at a hotel in Beverly Hills, California, kissed her, touched her breast and tried to get her to lie on a bed during a meeting about a possible job.

She and the other women came forward after a video from 2005 surfaced showing Trump boasting of making unwanted advances toward women including grabbing women by the genitals - a video that he later apologized for but said was simply "locker room talk" and was not his actual behavior.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Trump remains executive producer on reality TV show - Schwarzenneger

LOS ANGELES - President-elect Donald Trump will remain an executive producer on the reality TV show "Celebrity Apprentice," new host Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Friday, defending the situation as similar to his own transitions between politics and entertainment.

Trump, who famously barked the catchphrase "You're fired!" as he dismissed competitors on the "Apprentice" and "Celebrity Apprentice" programs, stepped down from the show last year when he entered the Republican presidential race.

"Celebrity Apprentice" returns to the air with Schwarzenegger, star of the "Terminator" films and former two-term California governor, as host on Jan. 2, 18 days before Trump is sworn in as president.

"I knew from the beginning he is executive producer of the show...His credit was on there," Schwarzenegger told reporters at a promotional event for the next season.

"It is no different than when I was running for governor and I became governor. My credit for starring in 'Terminator' still said Schwarzenegger and everything stayed the same and I continued getting my royalties," he said.

Asked whether Trump should step away from the program, Schwarzenegger joked: "I don't think he'll be co-hosting with me." He suggested Trump could appear on future seasons as a guest adviser "if he has time."

Variety, which first reported Trump's decision to remain as executive producer, said his name would air in the credits before that of Schwarzenegger. The show is broadcast by NBC, a unit of Comcast Corp.

Variety said he was likely to be due a payment in the low five-figures per episode.

Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway did not confirm that Trump would retain the executive producer credit and said she did not know whether he would accept potential payments for the program.

"Presidents have a right to do things in their spare time or their leisure time," she told CNN. "Nobody objects to that."

Debuting in 2004, "The Apprentice" and its spinoff, "Celebrity Apprentice," were ratings hits and boosted Trump's popularity after he suffered a financial downturn in the 1990s.

"He did a great job. That's why I was attracted to the show. Now I am the new boss. I am the new host. I hope I can match up with what he has done ... I want to have my ratings a little higher than his were," Schwarzenegger said.

Trump has been speaking to lawyers and protocol experts about his global business interests once he takes office on Jan. 20, Conway said on CNN.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

NBC latest to dump Trump over Mexican immigrant comments

NEW YORK, United States - NBC severed business ties Monday with Donald Trump, joining a chorus of protests over the mogul turned US presidential hopeful's remarks about Mexican immigrants.

This means the Miss USA and Miss Universe beauty pageants -- Trump owns the broadcast rights -- will not be aired on NBC, which is a unit of Comcast.

And Trump will no longer appear in the NBC reality show "The Apprentice," where he had been a star attraction.

The NBC television network's announcement came four days after Univision, the leading broadcaster in the US Spanish-language TV market, also broke with the Miss Universe Organization.

Trump has angered many in America with comments he made in announcing his run for the Republican presidential nomination last week. Hispanics are the country's fastest growing minority, and the majority of US Hispanics are of Mexican descent and origin.

In a rambling 45-minute speech, Trump said: "When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best."

He added: "They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists."

Billionaire Trump's comments triggered criticism both in the United States and Mexico.

Mexican Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong called them "prejudiced and absurd."

Hispanic and migrant advocacy groups slammed Trump, while Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton called his remarks inflammatory.

But Trump will not back down. Over the weekend he said Mexico should pay for a wall along the border between it and the United States.

"I would do something very severe unless they contributed or gave us the money to build the wall," Trump said on CNN's State of the Union.

Trump insisted "you have people coming through the border that are from all over. And they're bad. They're really bad."

"I'm not just saying Mexicans, I'm talking about people that are from all over, that are killers, and rapists," he said.

On the wall, he said: "Mexico has not treated us well. Mexico treats us as though we are stupid people. Which, of course, our leaders are."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Trump says he would make Mexico pay for a border wall

WASHINGTON, United States - Presidential hopeful Donald Trump said in an interview aired Sunday that he would force Mexico to pay to have a wall built along its northern border with the United States.

"I would do something very severe unless they contributed or gave us the money to build the wall," Trump said on CNN's State of the Union.

It was the billionaire's latest broadside against Mexico since he announced his candidacy June 16 with a speech labelling immigrants from the United States' southern neighbor as drug traffickers, criminals and rapists.

His comments caused an uproar, prompting Mexico's interior minister to call him "prejudiced and absurd," and Univision, America's top Spanish-language TV network, to sever its ties with Trump's Miss Universe Organization.

In the CNN interview, Trump insisted "you have people coming through the border that are from all over. And they're bad. They're really bad."

"I'm not just saying Mexicans, I'm talking about people that are from all over, that are killers, and rapists," he said.

Asked about his calls for a border wall, Trump said, "Mexico has not treated us well. Mexico treats us as though we are stupid people. Which, of course, our leaders are.

"I don't blame Mexico. China's even worse," he added.

He said he would force Mexico to pay for the wall "because Mexico makes a fortune because of us."

Trump, a real estate tycoon and star of the TV reality show "The Apprentice," came in second place this week among Republicans in the running for the presidency, behind former Florida governor Jeb Bush, in a poll by Suffolk University.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Pinoy in Top 2 of 'Apprentice Asia'

MANILA – Jonathan Allen Yabut, a senior product manager of a pharmaceutical company in the Philippines, is only a step away from becoming the first winner of the reality series “The Apprentice Asia.”

Yabut made it to the Top 2 of the regional adaptation of the popular US series, along with lawyer Andrea Loh Ern-Yu of Singapore.

In a two-part finale which will be aired on the cable channel AXN at 9 p.m. on July 24 and 31, AirAsia’s Tony Fernandes will decide who between the two candidates will become his first “apprentice.”


Yabut is one of the two Filipinos who competed in “The Apprentice Asia.” The other is Celina Le Neindre, a food and beverage consultant, who only made it to the final six in the competition.

A University of the Philippines graduate, Yabut said he has been a fan of “The Apprentice” ever since he was in college.

“I was jumping up and down! Sabi ko sa brothers ko, ‘it’s here, may ‘Apprentice Asia!’ I was telling the other contestants [that] if there was a fan club in Asia, I think I would vie for the president. I really watched everything. Like I’ve watched ‘Apprentice US, Spain, Italy, Australia, Ireland, you have it. And I think it’s a good way to prepare because you know how the tasks are done and you’re psychologically and mentally prepared,” he told ABS-CBNnews.com and other members of the media during the premiere screening of “The Apprentice Asia” last May.

Yabut, 27, said he did not feel the pressure of competing with older and more experienced players.

“I didn’t feel it (pressure) at all. There were both immature and mature people in the show. And since you’re from different backgrounds, you really tend to compromise. So I think the age didn’t really matter at all. You wouldn’t even know what the ages of the people are until you ask,” he said of his fellow competitors, which included a business owner, a financial coach and an auditor, among others.

He ended by saying that he hopes to show the rest of the world that Filipinos can do well, particularly in terms of sales and marketing.

“If you watch other ‘Apprentice’ shows or other seasons, it’s all about marketing and sales. So I felt something and I want to prove that the Pinoy can really do well,” Yabut said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Auditions for 'The Apprentice Asia' underway

MANILA, Philippines – Casting is now underway for the Asian version of the hit American reality series “The Apprentice.”


The series will be hosted by Malaysian aviation tycoon Tony Fernandes, the founder of budget-travel giant AirAsia, who was named the “Asia Businessman of the Year” by Forbes Asia in 2010.

Patterned after the U.S. show hosted by Donald Trump, “The Apprentice Asia” will be helmed by reality TV guru Mark Burnett of “The Voice” and “Survivor” and Fremantlemedia Asia.

Meanwhile, “The Apprentice Asia” is looking for entrepreneurs who want to join the competition with the following criteria:

    - Age of 21 years and above
    - Currently living or working in Asia; with a valid passport of at least six months
    - Well-versed in English

The winning apprentice will stand to walk away with a dream job under Fernandes.


Interested contestants may visit www.axn-asia.com/TheApprenticeAsia for the application form. They must also prepare a four-minute video introducing themselves.

The audition process will only be until December 16, Singapore time.

source: abs-cbnnews.com