‘Celebrity Apprentice’ Recap: The Villain Goes Down
“[My teammates] are all quite intimidated by my reputation,” proclaims Omarosa, the one cast member on this year’s edition of Celebrity Apprentice that just won’t seem to go away. Because no matter how conniving, manipulative or just downright cruel she’s been over the past two tasks, one project manager after another – first La Toya Jackson and then Claudia Jordan – have balked when given the chance to bring her back to the board room.
One of her teammates, however, has had just about enough. “It’s between you and me now,” says Dennis Rodman.
Only time will tell whether Omarosa does eventually get the axe. Until then, it’s time for another week’s episode and another task. This week, Donald Trump tells the two teams of celebs that they’re to create and sell 3D works of art. The art pieces will then be displayed at a public gallery showing. The team that raises the most money wins the task. But seeing as Team Plan B has been winning nearly every week, Team Power is left short-handed. To that end, Trump informs Trace Adkins that he’s now on Team Power. The country singer is none too pleased. “I don’t like you very much right now,” he tells Trump. “A lot of people don’t like me,” Trump responds. Lil Jon and Lisa Rinna step up as project managers for Power and Plan B, respectively.
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If there’s one member of Plan B who consistently stirs up trouble – aside from Gary Busey, who can’t help but be a bizarre distraction to his team – it’s Stephen Baldwin. Because, regardless of the task, the greasy actor is always talking up a big game and ultimately failing to deliver. Naturally, this go-round is no different. When his teammate Penn Jillette suggests that the actual art pieces themselves are of no significance – rather, he believes the entire task centers on the ability to fundraise – Baldwin vehemently disagrees, starts talking in the third person, and blabs on about the prestigious art dealers he’s immediately going to get on the line. His teammates pay no mind: Rinna and Jillette confide in one another that they suspect it will be Baldwin who brings in the least money at day’s end.
Looking like a demented group of elementary-school students, team members on both squads get busy creating their works of art. There’s Baldwin’s rudimentary creation – paintbrushes dripping paint onto a white canvas. And how can you forget Busey’s ceramic skull, an instant classic, dubbed “Mr. Hang Brain”?
On Team Power, things are running smoothly with Lil Jon at the helm. Sure, the hip-hop world may not think much of him, but dude has proven time and again to be a no-nonsense, highly intelligent Celebrity Apprentice contestant. Unlike in previous episodes, this week Rodman came to play: He goes full-force in creating his art piece, and is even able to get Derek Jeter to donate a signed bat for Team Power’s gallery showing.
Piers Morgan, former winner of Celebrity Apprentice and this task’s advisor, visits both teams to check on their progress. Given his loathing dislike for Omarosa, he seems particularly excited to warn her teammates of her deceptive talents. “Omarosa is slipperier than an eel,” he informs them.
Come the gallery showings, both teams get quite the impressive turnout. (We’re left wondering why exactly such big donors are willing to put up the big bucks for these amateur art pieces, but hey, it’s television.) Highlights of the gallery showing include Busey’s “Mr. Hang Brain” selling for a whopping $25,000, Rodman getting $5,000 for the Jeter bat, Teller (of Penn and Teller fame) having an assistant drop off $50,000 in cash, the Blue Man Group donating $15,000 to Team Plan B, albeit buried in 150 pounds of Jell-O, and Rinna’s famous hairstylist friend, Chaz Dean, shelling out $80,000.
Less suspense than normal hangs over this week’s board room proceedings. That’s because both teams established early on that whoever on the losing squad raised the least amount of money would be brought back to the board room. As such, it’s quite hilarious when, as predicted by his teammates, it’s revealed that aside from Busey who brought in, yes, zero dollars, it’s Baldwin coming in second-to-last for his team, having only raised $5,000. Comparatively, on Team Power, Rodman and Omarosa bring up the rear with $10,000 and $12,000 raised, respectively.
But before anyone can get fired, Trump must reveal which team snagged the win. Turns out it was no contest: Lil Jon’s squad raised nearly $180,000 while Rinna’s team brought home $225,000. And so the results spell yet another Team Plan B victory.
Before anyone on her team can even get a word in, it’s Omarosa per usual who’s raising a ruckus. She says she believes that Lil Jon should be the one from her team to be fired – in spite of the fact that he raised the most money. But her teammates want none of it. They’re flat-out tired of hearing the woman’s incessant rambling.
Without fail, Lil Jon brings back both her and Rodman to join him in facing Trump’s wrath. “The good, the bad and the ugly,” as Rodman coins the trio, return to the board room and the oddball former basketball star says he’s baffled that Omarosa hasn’t already been fired in the previous weeks. Hell, he even goes so far as to accuse her of faking crying over her dead fiancé.
All Trump wants to talk about, though, is how much of a feel-good “redemption story” Rodman has become. Last time he was on Celebrity Apprentice, the athlete was a mess; he was rarely sober for a moment of taping. But now, Trump says, Rodman is a changed man; he’s ready to work hard. Omarosa, on the other hand – well, The Donald admits she’s a good player, says that he adores her and even gives her credit for helping make his show so popular. But that’s where the nice chitchat ends. “You helped make me a star,” Trump tells her. “But Omarosa, you’re fired!”
And so it is that after weeks of evading the pink slip, one of reality television’s biggest villains, Omarosa, is finally shown the door. Frankly, it’s about damn time.
Last Week: Hair Care Hijinks