'The Apprentice' Staffers: Donald Trump Called Deaf Actress Marlee Matlin 'Retarded'
TV

Fellow contestant Richard Hatch additionally reveals that Trump frequently hit on Matlin and Lisa Rinna, who was also competing on 'The Celebrity Apprentice' at the time.

AceShowbiz - Mark Burnett may refuse to release old footage of "The Apprentice", but that doesn't stop the show's crew members from revealing Donald Trump's inappropriate behaviors during filming of the show. The latest claim made against the Republican nominee accuses him of making awful comments about deaf contestant Marlee Matlin.

Three "longtime staffers" who worked on Matlin's season of "The Celebrity Apprentice" say that Trump would regularly disrespect the actress. "[Trump] would often equate that she was mentally retarded," one of the sources tells The Daily Beast.

Trump allegedly would often scribble down notes while sitting at the table of the boardroom and one person who helped clean up after the tapings found Trump writing, "Marlee, is she retarded??" on one of the pieces of paper.

"He would write notes on his blotter, his papers in front of him, and he would scribble notes in it," a source goes on describing. "It was usually just asinine things on them."

Another source claims that Trump "would make fun of [Matlin's] voice." The source explains, "It actually sounded a lot like what he did [to] the New York Times guy," referring to the time Trump mocked a disabled reporter, Serge Kovaleski, last year. "[It] sounded like he got a real kick out of it. It was really upsetting."

A third source recalls how Trump often made "insensitive" comments about Matlin's deafness in front of her when they were in the boardroom. "She responded [to him], she stood up for herself," the source reveals. "But people would just laugh this [stuff] off-it was just the culture of [the show.]" The source says the scene was cut from the episode.

Richard Hatch, who was competing against Matlin on the show, adds that Trump would frequently hit on Matlin and fellow competitor Lisa Rinna. "He went back and forth with Marlee," Hatch tells PEOPLE. "No matter how she responded, no matter how politely, he would push it a step further with comments about her looks, and how she was making him feel, and about what he thought of her, and how happy he would be to do something with her."

"It was a lot of (innuendoes), far beyond the norm," Hatch continues. "It was odd and weird, and people in the boardroom would look at one another, but he didn't care. (Matlin) was with her interpreter, Jack, and I thought, 'Gosh, I wonder if he's comfortable with this?' "

Follow AceShowbiz.com @ Google News

You can share this post!

You might also like
Related Posts