Donald Trump defends Bill Cosby references in Celebrity Apprentice

Donald Trump has defended references to embattled comedian Bill Cosby in Sunday's (January 4) season premiere of The Celebrity Apprentice.

Sunday's episode climaxed with Trump firing former Cosby Show star Keshia Knight Pulliam for refusing to ask Cosby to help fund her project.

Trump has now clarified on Twitter that The Celebrity Apprentice was filmed long before Janice Dickinson, Beverly Johnson and several other women accused Cosby of sexual impropriety.

"This show was taped just before the terrible Bill Cosby revelations came to light.She still should have asked him for money-goes to charity," he tweeted on Sunday (January 4).

Knight Pulliam defended her decision not to reach out to Cosby during an interview on NBC's Today on Monday (January 5).

"I know The Cosby Show is in reruns, and everyone thinks that we're this family that has dinner every Friday night," she explained. "But the reality was I hadn't spoken to Mr Cosby.

"I felt that it would be tactless, very rude to call someone and be like, 'Hey, so, let me have some money right now'."

The actress also told Today's Savannah Guthrie that she could not "speak to" the allegations levelled against Cosby.

Cosby has denied all allegations of sexual assault through his lawyer.

The Celebrity Apprentice continues tonight at 8pm ET on NBC.

Justin Harp

Justin is a freelance entertainment journalist and writer. He first joined Digital Spy as a freelance entertainment reporter in 2010 and also worked as a sub-editor for the brand, serving as Night News Editor from 2016 to 2024. Over more than a decade, Justin has covered numerous major entertainment events from the US and has interviewed a wide-ranging group of public figures, from comedian Steve Coogan to icons from the Star Trek universe, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reality stars from numerous Real Housewives cities and the Below Deck franchise. Justin has also been on the ground to cover major pop culture events like the Star Wars Celebration and the D23 Expo. He's written for titles across the Hearst network, plus the likes of CBR and Us Weekly.