logo
Election 2024 Trump Apprentice
FILE - Donald Trump, seeking contestants for "The Apprentice" television show, is interviewed at Universal Studios Hollywood Friday, July 9, 2004, in the Universal City section of Los Angeles. Trump was casting for "The Apprentice" the third season. A producer's new account of Trump's behavior on "The Apprentice" is resurfacing allegations about whether he mistreated Black people who appeared on the show. (AP Photo/Ric Francis, File)

A new account rekindles allegations that Trump disrespected Black people on 'The Apprentice'

Fresh allegations are surfacing about Donald Trump's disrespectful behavior toward Black contestants on “The Apprentice,” the reality TV show he hosted from 2004 to 2015

By Garance Burke And Meg Kinnard
Published - Jun 07, 2024, 12:06 AM ET
Last Updated - Jun 07, 2024, 12:06 AM EDT

Gene Folkes had just been jettisoned as a contestant on “The Apprentice” and was commiserating with a crew member at a bar inside the lobby of Trump Tower. He was indignant — and not just at having been kicked off the reality show after its star, Donald Trump, had delivered his catchphrase: “You’re fired.”

One of two Black contestants chosen for that season in 2010, Folkes was insulted that Trump had called him inarticulate and accused him of illiteracy in a lengthy boardroom tirade minutes earlier.

As the crew member, a Black woman who worked as a contestant manager, consoled him, Trump suddenly appeared at the bar.

“He came up and he asked me: ‘Is this your woman? Because you two would make a really great couple, you both have the same background,’” Folkes told The Associated Press.

Our Offices
  • 10kInfo, Inc.
    13555 SE 36th St
    Bellevue, WA 98006
  • 10kInfo Data Solutions, Pvt Ltd.
    Claywork Create
    11 km, Arakere Bannerghatta Rd, Omkar Nagar, Arekere,
    Bengaluru, Karnataka 560076
4.2 12182024