--- title: Attention Rises Over Donald Trump’s 'Apprentice' Tapes description: Media outlets and Donald Trump opponents are scrambling to obtain damning unaired footage that may exist from his days on "The Apprentice." canonical: https://time.com/4525585/donald-trump-apprentice-tapes/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-10T22:41:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:44:48.688Z article:section: Politics og:title: What to Know About Donald Trump’s Unaired 'Apprentice' Tapes og:description: Trump opponents have offered to pay millions for the leaked footage og:url: https://time.com/4525585/donald-trump-apprentice-tapes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte3c29cada52dca5f/6988a96e0a4a225b089cb93c/donald-trump-apprentice-tapes.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Donald Trump Holds Campaign Rally In Virginia Beach og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What to Know About Donald Trump’s Unaired 'Apprentice' Tapes twitter:description: Trump opponents have offered to pay millions for the leaked footage twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte3c29cada52dca5f/6988a96e0a4a225b089cb93c/donald-trump-apprentice-tapes.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What to Know About Donald Trump’s Unaired _Apprentice_ Tapes > Sponsored content. 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Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Oct 10, 2016 10:41 PM UTC  Donald Trump pauses during a campaign event in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on Sept. 6, 2016 Donald Trump pauses during a campaign event in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on Sept. 6, 2016 Alex Wong—Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Oct 10, 2016 10:41 PM UTC Reality show creator Mark Burnett said Monday that he cannot release any unaired recordings of Donald Trump from the Republican presidential candidate’s long-running show _The Apprentice_ as attention rises on what other private tapes of the businessman might reveal. A former producer of the NBC reality show said in a message on Twitter Saturday that “Trump tapes” from filming _The Apprentice_ contain “far worse” material than the newly published 2005 video in which [Trump boasts about groping women](http://time.com/4525282/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-poll-tape-leak/). On Monday, [the Huffington Post published what the site described as transcribed outtakes](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-apprentice-transcript%5Fus%5F57fbc511e4b0e655eab65823?fxep0w228778axajor) of one show where Trump reportedly critiqued the appearance of a country singer. In a statement released to the site, the Trump campaign declined to comment on the transcript. Here’s what we know so far the possible recordings: **What do we think is on these tapes?** More than 20 former crew members, editors and contestants from the show have told the Associated Press that Trump was repeatedly demeaning and vulgar to women. Bill Pruitt, who said he helped produce the first two seasons of _The Apprentice_, stoked speculation about the show’s archive when he tweeted on Oct. 8: “I assure you: When it comes to the #trumptapes there are far worse. #justhebeginning.” > [](https://twitter.com/billpruitt/status/784872190587998209) **Who owns the tapes?** _The Apprentice_ is owned by Mark Burnett Productions. MGM acquired a majority share in the company in 2014, according to the New York _Times_. Burnett was named president of MGM Television in December 2015, [_Variety_](http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/mark-burnett-named-president-of-mgm-television-1201661210/) reported. “Despite reports to the contrary, Mark Burnett does not have the ability nor the right to release footage or other material from The Apprentice,” MGM and Burnett said in a statement to TIME. “Various contractual and legal requirements also restrict MGM’s ability to release such material. The recent claims that Mark Burnett has threatened anyone with litigation if they were to leak such material are completely and unequivocally false. To be clear, as previously reported in the press, which Mark Burnett has confirmed, he has consistently supported Democratic campaigns.” NBC did not immediately comment Monday. NBC spokeswoman Rebecca Marks has previously told the [AP](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/a1babd280c9c4f94a7abab4fecc3df57/any-footage-trumps-air-apprentice-talk-under-wraps) that the network had licensed _The Apprentice_ footage from Burnett, adding that she did not know if NBC still had footage from the show in its possession. Even if the tapes were still in NBC’s storage, Marks said: “We don’t have the legal right to give out the footage from that show.” **What lengths have people said they’ll go to obtain them?** At least one key Hillary Clinton supporter has volunteered to pay $5 million to any _Apprentice_ employee willing to leak the tapes. David Brock, who runs a network of Democratic groups helping Clinton’s campaign, wrote on Twitter that he would foot the bill. “If a $5 million ‘leak fee’ is what stands between truth and total #Trump implosion, sign me up,” he tweeted. Brock later confirmed to [_Politico_](http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2016/10/david-brock-i-will-pay-for-apprentice-tapes-229432) that he was serious about his offer. > [](https://twitter.com/davidbrockdc/status/785226644575387648) A GoFundMe page called “[Trump Sunlight Campaign](https://www.gofundme.com/sunlightfund)” has collected more than $9,000 in less than a day with a goal of raising money to support a leaker. “Someone out there is likely in possession of a piece of evidence that could be used to substantiate what many folks have always believed; that the current nominee for President of the United States is not a moral leader for us all to look to over the next four years,” the page says. “This country needs that person to come forward and ensure that we all know the truth that is out there.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4525585/donald-trump-apprentice-tapes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4525585/donald-trump-apprentice-tapes/"},"headline":"What to Know About Donald Trump’s Unaired Apprentice Tapes","datePublished":"2016-10-10T22:41:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:44:48.688Z","description":"Apprentice creator says he cannot legally release recordings","url":"https://time.com/4525585/donald-trump-apprentice-tapes/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte3c29cada52dca5f/6988a96e0a4a225b089cb93c/donald-trump-apprentice-tapes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte3c29cada52dca5f/6988a96e0a4a225b089cb93c/donald-trump-apprentice-tapes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump Holds Campaign Rally In Virginia Beach","caption":"Donald Trump pauses during a campaign event in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on Sept. 6, 2016","creditText":"Alex Wong—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4525585/donald-trump-apprentice-tapes/","name":"What to Know About Donald Trump’s Unaired Apprentice Tapes"}}]}] ```