The first month of 2017 opens with a new session of the United States Congress, the inauguration of Donald Trump as our 45th President, and a new season of the show that made Donald Trump famous, “Celebrity Apprentice.” While serving as president, Trump will also serve as the executive producer of the show, currently hosted by former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The confluence of politics and show business is now complete.
“Celebrity Apprentice” and its predecessor, “The Apprentice,” provided a national stage for Donald Trump to hone his media skills and become a household name outside New York City. For those who aren't familiar with the program, it highlights competing teams of celebrities (definition loosely defined) who are given tasks to complete. The host, who also serves as chief judge, along with two sidekicks decide which team leader wins money for charity. High-end show business at its most elementary level.
Today, “Celebrity Apprentice” has set itself up to be a potential cesspool of conflicts without clear boundaries for its former and current hosts. NBC fired Trump from the show in June after what they called his "derogatory statements regarding immigrants." They replaced him with a well-known Austrian born immigrant, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has his own brand of male macho. Behind the scenes wrangling during the campaign put Trump back to work as the program’s executive producer, creating a substantial new revenue stream for Trump to collect while he is president.
Forbes estimates that Trump as exec producer will make about $2 million per episode this season, in addition to royalties. Corporate sponsorships of the program muddies the waters ever further. At this point, Trump's continued involvement with “Celebrity Apprentice,” is ridiculously inappropriate. He doesn’t seem inclined to stop pocketing money earned while on the payroll of a television network with a substantial news division assigned to cover his presidency.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former bodybuilder turned actor and businessman who parlayed it all to become the Republican Governor of California, appears primed to continue the mix of politics and reality television. In October he announced that he would not vote for Donald Trump for president. In his first “Celebrity Apprentice” show on January 2, 2017, Schwarzenegger called out actor and comedian Jon Lovitz for referring to him as “Arnold,” the name known to millions. "In here it's Governor,” Schwarzenegger said while sitting behind the faux boardroom desk. It was slightly bizarre. We now have a second incarnation of the “Celebrity Apprentice” reality show with a host who wants to use his political title in lieu of all others.
Could we say that NBC is providing a vehicle to showcase another potential presidential candidate while enabling the continuation of a new norm? Arnold Schwarzenegger's bio on his official website reinforces some of that thinking:
“Most notably, Schwarzenegger made California a world leader on renewable energy and combating climate change with the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, set a revolutionary political reform agenda, and became the first governor in decades to invest in rebuilding California’s critical infrastructure with his Strategic Growth Plan.”
The current convergence of celebrity and politics has unleashed a new generation of probable. The lines between governing, business and celebrity no longer seem to be clearly drawn. When a reality show star wants to be called by his former title of Governor, but closes his show saying “Hasta la vista baby,” you really do have to wonder.