NBC boss Bob Greenblatt slams Donald Trump as 'toxic' and 'demented'
NBC boss Bob Greenblatt took to Facebook to blast presidential nominee and former "Celebrity Apprentice" host Donald Trump as "toxic," "pompous" and "demented."
"The sad state of affairs thanks to a pompous businessman turned reality TV star (whose show consistently ran LAST in its time period, by the way) who thinks speaking his mind is refreshing. It's actually corrosive and toxic because his 'mind' is so demented; and his effect will unfortunately linger long after he's been told to get off the stage," Greenblatt posted on his personal Facebook account this week.
Greenblatt's Facebook post is now deleted. A source tells Variety the post was in response to Nicholas Kristof's New York Times op-ed, titled, "Donald Trump Is Making America Meaner."
NBC had no comment.
Greenblatt and Trump's history dates back to 2011 when the network executive joined NBC, and "Celebrity Apprentice" was already on the air — but ever since Trump entered the political sphere, his relationship with NBC fizzled.
See photos of Donald Trump through the years:
The network publicly cut ties with the GOP nominee in summer 2015, ending his "Apprentice" gig and letting go of the Trump-produced Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants, when he made "derogatory" comments about immigrants.
At the time, an NBC spokesperson said: "Due to the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding immigrants, NBCUniversal is ending its business relationship with Mr. Trump. At NBC, respect and dignity for all people are cornerstones of our values."
Following the parting of ways, NBC received some backlash when the network welcomed Trump back to host "Saturday Night Live" and appear on Jimmy Fallon's "Tonight Show." However, Greenblatt came to The Peacock's defense, telling reporters in January this year, "If we were in the business of never having anyone guest on the network that had views that were different than our views, we would be out of business...I think that reconciles quite easily with we're not in business with him, but love it or not, he's one of the most important political figures of our time and he's on our shows."
Greenblatt's NBC cohort Paul Telegdy, the network's president of alternative and late night programming, recently said that "The Apprentice" is responsible for Trump's success in the race.
"What's going on demonstrates, if nothing else, the enormous amount of responsibility that goes with the job of putting out the version of someone that we do in a TV show," Telegdy said in May at an industry event, calling "The Apprentice" a "master" that "created a phenomenon television personality."
With Trump fired from "Apprentice," next season will be hosted by another star-turned-politician, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
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