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The Howard University Board of Trustees has announced the revocation of the honorary degree conferred upon Sean Combs in 2014. This decision was made unanimously by the Board and reflects the University’s commitment to upholding its core values and principles.

The Board’s statement outlined that the acceptance of Mr. Combs’ return of his honorary degree also revokes all associated honors and privileges. Consequently, his name will be removed from all official University documents listing honorary degree recipients.

The revocation stems from Mr. Combs’ conduct as seen in a recently released video, which the Board described as “fundamentally incompatible with Howard University’s core values and beliefs.” The University emphasized its unwavering opposition to all forms of interpersonal violence, which was a key factor in their decision.

Further actions directed by the Board include the termination of a 2016 gift agreement with Mr. Combs, the disbandment of a scholarship program in his name, the return of his $1 million contribution, and the termination of a 2023 pledge agreement with the Sean Combs Foundation. It was clarified that no payments have been made toward the $1 million pledge, thus no funds are due for return under the 2023 pledge agreement.

“The Board and University administration have no further comment on this matter,” concluded the statement.

Howard University, through its Board of Trustees, maintains governance and control over the University’s affairs, property, and interests, exercising all powers conferred upon the institution as set forth in the Act of Incorporation and other legal provisions.

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Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.

Byron Donalds is usually wrong. 

To be fair, as one of only five African-American Republican members of Congress, being wrong is part of his job. In 2023, Donalds (R-Fla.) appeared on Joy Reid’s MSNBC show to be wrong about critical race theory and “woke” history. He was wrong when he believed his fellow Republicans would support his candidacy for speaker of the House. He was wrong when he voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election. So it wasn’t unusual when people accused the two-term congressman of valorizing the era of government-approved racism known as “Jim Crow.”  

This is what Donalds does.

But instead of accusing Donalds of performing anti-Blackness in exchange for praise and pats on the head from his white colleagues, theGrio decided to fact-check Donalds’ actual statements. 

Was the Black family better off under Jim Crow?

Here’s what we found.

What Byron Donalds actually said

On Tuesday, Donalds appeared at two Trump campaign events organized to “garner the Black male vote,” according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. During the “Congress, Cognac and Cigars” gathering, Donalds explained how Black people benefitted from institutional racism.

“During Jim Crow, the Black family was together,” Donalds explained to the crowd at the white-owned business in one of the “whitest and most conservative” parts of the city where Donalds and his GOP colleagues unsuccessfully asked elections officials to toss out Black voters’ ballots. “During Jim Crow, more Black people were not just conservative — Black people have always been conservative-minded — but more Black people voted conservatively. And then H.E.W., Lyndon Johnson — you go down that road, and now we are where we are.”

Pressed by CNN host Abby Phillip on Wednesday, James Crow Jr. doubled down on his remarks. “All I was doing was referring to the time periods,” the American apartheid advocate explained. “Frankly, what that is, is about the empirical fact that before the Great Society before Lyndon Johnson’s policies, there was more Black families united. The marriage rate in Black America was significantly higher before the Great Society. The period of time that coincides with that, obviously, is the Jim Crow era.”

What was Jim Crow?

After the 1876 presidential election, 15 white men gathered in a room to figure out a solution to the first Stop the Steal Movement. 

Known as the Wormley Agreement or the Compromise of 1877, five Supreme Court justices, five senators and five representatives awarded the presidency to Rutherford B. Hayes in exchange for ending the Reconstruction Era. The concessions included a specific accommodation that the federal government would stop forcing former confederate states to recognize the constitutional rights of Black citizens. Legislatures in Northern and Southern states immediately created a series of racially discriminatory policies that became known as Jim Crow laws.

For 100 years — from the end of race-based slavery until the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 – every Black person in America lived under this constitutionally enforced, government-approved system of white supremacy. Because of Jim Crow, the Black codes created after emancipation were now the law of the land. Segregated schools were mandatory under Jim Crow. Under Jim Crow, it was perfectly fine to disenfranchise Black voters and ban non-white people from living wherever they wanted. Jim Crow excluded Black taxpayers from using facilities built and maintained with their tax dollars. 

And according to Byron Donalds, Black people thrived.

Were Black voters more conservative?

Most Black people couldn’t vote under Jim Crow. According to the U.S. census data, between 1880 and 1960, the majority of Black Americans lived in the South. Specifically, they lived in states that disenfranchised African-American voters, which is why the Civil Rights Act of 1964’s preclearance requirement banned these states from changing their voting laws without permission from the Department of Justice. It is literally impossible to know what the majority of Black Americans wanted under Jim Crow if they couldn’t vote.

Even if one counted the votes of the Black people who did vote, there was never a moment in the history of this country when the majority of Black voters supported conservative politics. Shortly after the Civil War, Southern Republicans started the anti-Black Lily White movement to prevent Black voters from gaining control of the party. Meanwhile, conservative Democrats didn’t even allow Black people to attend the party’s conventions in an official capacity until 1924. Although a majority of Black voters supported Franklin Roosevelt’s presidential campaign, it wasn’t until 1948 that most Black voters (77%) considered themselves Democrats. By then, white voters had fled the Democratic Party, precisely because the party was no longer conservative. 

So, when Donalds said, “Black people voted more conservatively during Jim Crow,” either he was lying or he didn’t know what he was talking about.

Did Black families fare better?

First, let’s look at wealth. 

In 1900, white households had about nine times the wealth of Black households. This disparity in wealth essentially remained unchanged throughout the Jim Crow, according to “The Wealth of Two Nations: The U.S. Racial Wealth Gap, 1860-2020. In 2022, the average white family had $100 for every $15 held by Black households. And while the Black-white employment gap began during the Great Depression, which coincided with Jim Crow, this still doesn’t tell the complete story.

Under Jim Crow, tax dollars from Black families were used to fund segregated education systems that increased the generational wealth of white families. Take Jim Crow South Carolina, for instance, where Black citizens made up 48.9% of the population in 1940. Because the state constitution made integrated schools illegal, Black K-12 schools were worth an estimated $12.9 million while white schools were worth nearly five times that number. 

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Jim Crow’s legalized theft wasn’t limited to education. Under Jim Crow, Black families were forced to foot the bills for libraries, hospitals, parks and public facilities they couldn’t use. Their federal tax dollars funded scholarships and home loans for white veterans while Black veterans were excluded from the G.I. Bill. New Deal programs used Black taxpayers’ money to give white people jobs, build redlined neighborhoods and create whites-only suburbs. 

Maybe Byron Donalds believes robbing Black families of their generational wealth and opportunity and giving it to white families is good for African America.

Donalds is partially right that the rate of Black marriages has declined since the Jim Crow era. The percentage of Black children born to unmarried mothers has also dramatically increased. However, those statistics hold true for every racial demographic. While Donalds would like to attribute this to the Democrats, government handouts and “welfare” programs, people who know things understand that out-of-wedlock births correlate with poverty, education and income more than race. Plus, first-time white moms are more likely to have a “shotgun wedding” when they get pregnant. 

Furthermore, Donald’s entire definition of “family” is based on marriage statistics, but researchers who actually cite facts found “no significant differences” between how unmarried Black fathers interact with their children compared to other races. The only difference they noted is that “White fathers spend significantly fewer days per month” with their children than Black fathers. 

To be fair, here’s what Donalds said about the downfall of the white family:*

_{*I’ll insert Byron Donalds quote about white families here when I find it}

About those conservative values

The biggest problem with Byron’s status as the Black Bull Connor is that everything he believes is based on a commonly accepted myth. For more than 200 years, both parties have managed to bamboozle their constituents into believing in the false premise of political conservatism. Whether Donalds is a shameless liar, a well-meaning ignoramus or a political prop intentionally misinterpreting history, facts and data for his own political gain, one thing is abundantly clear:

There is no such thing as “conservative principles.” 

Before Strom Thurmond led an exodus of conservative white Dixiecrats to the GOP, the “states’ rights” Democrats were considered the conservative party. Today, the Republican coalition consists of evangelical Christians, anti-abortion “pro-lifers,” small government proponents and ideologues who want to preserve their Judeo-Christian beliefs of gender, sexuality and individual freedoms. 

“Conservatism” is just white supremacy wrapped in an American flag. 

If Donalds’ party actually believed in fiscal conservatism, they would want to repay this country’s debt to Black Americans. To be fair, if they were fiscally conservative, the national debt would not increase when Republican presidents are in office. And while conservatives blame the downfall of the Black family on welfare, Democrats and LBJ’s Great Society programs, Governing reports that “eight of the 10 most federally dependent states were Republican, while seven of the 10 least federally dependent states were Democratic.”

A small government conservative who believed in personal and religious freedom wouldn’t want politicians weighing in on reproductive choices, gender identity and sexuality. A social conservative wouldn’t support a lying, racist, xenophobic convicted felon. Wouldn’t an “evangelical Christian” do something about generational theft, inequality and poverty? Instead, they have chosen a lying, thieving, corrupt adulterer as their lord and savior. A real pro-lifer would at least pretend to care about police brutality, Black maternal mortality rates, the death penalty, access to health care and gun violence. A states’ rights conservative wouldn’t disenfranchise Black voters or ask the federal government to toss out certified election results. 

Interestingly enough, Donalds’ marriage would be illegal under Jim Crow. When “conservative North Florida Democrats” took control of Florida’s legislature in 1885, their new constitution prohibited “all marriages between a white person and a negro, or between a white person and a person of negro descent to the fourth generation.” Then again, if Byron Donalds was an actual conservative, he would hate the progressive laws that created the diversion programs that benefitted him when he was arrested for marijuana distribution and when he pleaded no contest to felony theft. 

Anti-Blackness is the only conservative principle

The only logical conclusion that anyone could gain from Donalds’ argument is that Black people were better off when their votes, tax dollars, education, economic well-being and — most importantly — their humanity were controlled by white people. In his whitewashed, conservative brain, white people are more intelligent, have better values and are more responsible than Black people. According to Donalds, the fact that Black people survived the most brutal period, most undemocratic era of physical violence, institutional racism and government-approved anti-Blackness is proof that white people are right and Black people are wrong.   

This is the conservatism that Byron Donalds wants Black people to embrace. 

Unfortunately for Byron Donalds, his belief in white people’s fictionalized version of history is disproven by history, facts and factual evidence. Before Black people strangled Jim Crow to death, America was not a democracy. This nation murdered, raped, tortured and pillaged its poorest, most oppressed citizens until Black people gave this country some family values. We are the patriots whose blood, sweat and tears conserved the ideas that founded this “land of opportunity.”  

I don’t judge Byron Donalds for insinuating that Black people were better when white supremacy was the law of the land. For the last 60 years, most white voters have cast ballots for candidates who espouse the same beliefs. This is their American dream. Donalds is just part of their ongoing effort to convince Black Americans that they were better off when their votes, tax dollars, jobs, health, generational wealth, education, homes and their very lives were subject to the whims of white supremacy. In their minds, this was when America was at its greatest. And, as the Republicans’ leading Jim Crow advocate, Byron Donalds has one job: 

Make America great again. 

Michael Harriot is a writer, cultural critic and championship-level Spades player. His NY Times bestseller  Black AF History: The Unwhitewashed Story of America is available in bookstores everywhere.

6

In the ever-evolving world of rap and hip-hop, certain statistics and achievements can still leave fans astounded. Here are some recent rap facts that are sure to blow your mind:

1. Nicki Minaj’s Unmatched Chart Dominance
   Nicki Minaj holds a unique and impressive record as the only rapper to have a top 5 hit song on every one of her studio albums. From her debut with “Pink Friday” to her latest release, Minaj has consistently delivered chart-topping hits, solidifying her place in rap history.






2. Eminem’s Enduring Popularity
   Despite being released over two decades ago, ‘The Eminem Show’ continues to captivate listeners. It is currently garnering more daily streams than all 464 of Mariah Carey’s songs combined. This remarkable feat highlights Eminem’s enduring influence and the album’s timeless appeal.






3. The Meteoric Rise of ‘Not Like Us’
   ‘Not Like Us’ has achieved a staggering milestone as the only rap song to amass more than 250 million streams in a single month. This record-breaking achievement underscores the song’s massive popularity and the artist’s growing influence in the rap scene.






4. Future’s Platinum Streak
   Future has surpassed major pop icons by having more platinum singles than The Weeknd, Justin Bieber, and Ariana Grande. His prolific output and consistent hits have earned him a significant place in the music industry, showcasing his widespread appeal.






5. Drake’s Unrivaled Streaming Success
   In 2024 alone, Drake has amassed more streams than Pusha T and Rick Ross have combined throughout their entire careers. This staggering statistic speaks volumes about Drake’s dominant presence in the music streaming world and his ability to continually connect with a global audience.






6. Lil Baby’s Streaming Supremacy
   Lil Baby’s popularity has soared to new heights, as he now boasts more streams than J. Cole, Beyonce, and Maroon 5. This impressive accomplishment highlights his rapid ascent in the music industry and his ability to resonate with a diverse audience.






7. NBA Youngboy’s Certification Haul
   NBA Youngboy has achieved an extraordinary milestone with more gold and platinum certified hits than Taylor Swift. This accomplishment underscores his prolific nature and his significant impact on the music scene, particularly among younger listeners.

These astonishing facts not only highlight the incredible achievements of these artists but also underscore the dynamic and unpredictable nature of the rap and hip-hop industry. As these artists continue to push boundaries and set new records, fans can expect even more surprises in the future.

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Ray J, the multi-platinum artist, entrepreneur, and seriously un-serious and pop culture icon, has seemingly lived a thousand different lives over his career and has given us countless contributions to pop culture—chief among them being the Kardashians’ fame.

Yet it weren’t for the now infamous (or famous, depending on who you ask) sex tape of him and then-girlfriend Kim Kardashian being “leaked” online—Ray J feels the fashion world, the beauty world, the influencer world, and the way we view and value celebs would not be where it is today. Hell, even Onlyfans wouldn’t have come into existence, according to Ray J.

“How different would we all be?” he asked on his latest interview on Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast. “How different would this whole fucking thing be? How different would this industry be? Everything would be different. There might not be any OnlyFans and all the things like that. All the opportunities like that. Probably more people would be going to college.”

In light of this train of thought, it got us thinking: what other accolades in pop culture has Ray J accrued?

His Own TV Network

Back in March 2024, Ray announced the upcoming launch of his own television platform, Tronix Network. According to Forbes, he invested $1.5 million and is already optimistic about its success.

“I was just like, ‘OK, I think we have enough POCs [proofs of concept]. I think we know what to do. We just have to now put all of our money up and go for what we believe in.’ So, eventually, that’s what I did, and that’s a pretty scary thing,” he explained in an interview with Forbes.

Though the launch is forthcoming, Ray told the outlet that it plans to premiere seven to eight shows, dropping new episodes bi-weekly on Mondays.

Raycon Global

Back in 2017, he launched his wireless audio product line of headphones and earbuds call Raycons to massive success. After reportedly earning $300 million in profits, Ray shockingly sold his shares and parted ways with the company to pursue Tronix.

Owning Suge Knights Life Rights—Well, Kind Of

In news that shocked damn-near everyone, back in 2019, Ray J was announced as the owner of the life rights to Death Row Records founder Suge Knight. However, that shock was somewhat short lived after Knight came back out to clarify that his fiancée was actually overseeing his life rights. Ray J was just in charge of overseeing Death Row for the time being—that is until Hasbro and subsequently Snoop Dogg became the new owners.

Breathing New Life Into The Breakfast Club

Though it’s hard to imagine now, there was a time when The Breakfast Club almost died and faded off into oblivion. But thanks to a viral interview with Ray J back in 2011, he helped revive the show, catapulting it into the social media and pop culture stratosphere of relevance. The show has remained a staple stop for notable celebs and influential figures ever since.

Reality TV Fame

Coming in on the heels of success of VH1’s “Flavor of Love,” “For the Love of Ray J” was met with astronomical support and similar success. It created yet another canon event in the world of reality TV, Black culture and pop culture at-large, giving precent and shape to what fans have come to know and love about reality dating shows.

Being Brandy Norwood’s Brother

Do I really need to say more?

While he may often be one of the internet’s favorite person to joke on, there really is a lot to be said—and arguably a lot of credit to be given to Ray J at the end of the day.

34

ELLE Magazine honored the brightest up-and-coming talents in film and television with a star-studded event at Bar Funke on Thursday, June 6, 2024. The annual ELLE Hollywood Rising celebration, presented by Polo Ralph Lauren, spotlighted an impressive array of breakout actors and actresses who are set to make significant waves in the entertainment industry.

The 2024 Hollywood Rising event toasted an illustrious roster of young stars, including Freya Allan, Ryan Destiny, Nicholas Galitzine, Molly Gordon, Emma Laird, Havana Rose Liu, Aaron Moten, Brandon Perea, Ella Purnell, Anna Sawai, Sophie Thatcher, and D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai. These 12 exceptional talents, celebrated as the future of Hollywood, are prominently featured in the June/July 2024 issue of ELLE and showcased on ELLE.com.

Among the guests were notable figures such as Dylan Arnold, Emily Bader, Malia Baker, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Charlie Bushnell, Kylie Cantrall, Pauline Chalamet, Lana Condor, Cazzie David, Jenna Davis, Izzy G., Virginia Gardner, Ashby Gentry, Xochitl Gomez, Annie Gonzalez, Loren Gray, Nico Greetham, Vritika Gupta, Callie Haverda, Myha’la Herrold, Jess Hong, Madison Hu, Skai Jackson, Simone Joy Jones, Dafne Keen, Highdee Kuan, Dallas Liu, Bailee Madison, Hannah Marks, Lukita Maxwell, Erin Moriarty, Ian Ousley, Chris Perfetti, Sasha Pieterse, Orlando Pineda, Keith Powers, Amit Rahav, Dara Reneé, Nikki Rodriguez, Jake Shane, Saniyya Sidney, Sadie Stanley, Larsen Thompson, Olivia Scott Welch, Ji-young Yoo, Zaria, and many more.

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 06: (L-R) Keith Powers and Ryan Destiny attend “ELLE Hollywood Rising” 2024 Presented By Polo Ralph Lauren on June 06, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for ELLE)

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 06: (L-R) Madeleine Arthur and Lana Condor attend “ELLE Hollywood Rising” 2024 Presented By Polo Ralph Lauren on June 06, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for ELLE)

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 06: (L-R) Bailee Madison and Sasha Pieterse attend “ELLE Hollywood Rising” 2024 Presented By Polo Ralph Lauren on June 06, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for ELLE)

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 06: (L-R) Simone Joy Jones and Larsen Thompson attend “ELLE Hollywood Rising” 2024 Presented By Polo Ralph Lauren on June 06, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for ELLE)

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 06: (L-R) Izzy G. and Vritika Gupta attend “ELLE Hollywood Rising” 2024 Presented By Polo Ralph Lauren on June 06, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for ELLE)

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 06: (L-R) Kylie Cantrall, Dara Rene√©, and Malia Baker attend “ELLE Hollywood Rising” 2024 Presented By Polo Ralph Lauren on June 06, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for ELLE)

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 06: (L-R) Lukita Maxwell and Ji-young Yoo attend “ELLE Hollywood Rising” 2024 Presented By Polo Ralph Lauren on June 06, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for ELLE)

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 06: (L-R) Virginia Gardner and Olivia Scott Welch attends “ELLE Hollywood Rising” 2024 Presented By Polo Ralph Lauren on June 06, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for ELLE)

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 06: (L-R) Ashby Gentry and Charlie Bushnell attend “ELLE Hollywood Rising” 2024 Presented By Polo Ralph Lauren on June 06, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for ELLE)

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 06: (L-R) Annie Gonzalez and Dafne Keen attend “ELLE Hollywood Rising” 2024 Presented By Polo Ralph Lauren on June 06, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for ELLE)

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 06: (L-R) Emma Laird and Sophie Thatcher attend “ELLE Hollywood Rising” 2024 Presented By Polo Ralph Lauren on June 06, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for ELLE)

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 06: (L-R) A guest and Erin Moriarty attend “ELLE Hollywood Rising” 2024 Presented By Polo Ralph Lauren on June 06, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for ELLE)

Ralph Lauren, the event’s official stylist, curated chic ensembles for select attendees, including Dylan Arnold, Emily Bader, Malia Baker, Charlie Bushnell, Pauline Chalamet, Lana Condor, Ryan Destiny, Ashby Gentry, Xochitl Gomez, Madison Hu, Highdee Kuan, Ian Ousley, Amit Rahav, Nikki Rodriguez, Olivia Scott Welch, and Ji-young Yoo, ensuring the evening was as fashionable as it was celebratory.

This year’s gathering not only highlighted the fresh faces destined to become the next big names in Hollywood but also underscored ELLE’s commitment to recognizing and nurturing new talent. With its annual Hollywood Rising event, ELLE continues to be at the forefront of identifying and celebrating the stars of tomorrow.

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Gene Folkes had just been jettisoned as a contestant on “The Apprentice” and was commiserating with a crew member at a bar inside the lobby of Trump Tower. He was indignant — and not just at having been kicked off the reality show after its star, Donald Trump, had delivered his catchphrase: “You’re fired.”

One of two Black contestants chosen for that season in 2010, Folkes was insulted that Trump had called him inarticulate and accused him of illiteracy in a lengthy boardroom tirade minutes earlier.

As the crew member, a Black woman who worked as a contestant manager, consoled him, Trump suddenly appeared at the bar.

“He came up and he asked me: ‘Is this your woman? Because you two would make a really great couple, you both have the same background,’” Folkes told The Associated Press.

The contestant manager quietly reminded Trump that she worked for him. Then, Trump made a comment similar to something he uttered in the boardroom that never aired on TV, Folkes said.

“He said again, ‘It’s not like I used the N-word,’ and then he walked off, and that was that,” said Folkes, a New York-based consultant, podcast host and U.S. Air Force veteran.

As Trump seeks to make inroads with African American voters in his third run for the White House, fresh allegations are surfacing about his disrespectful behavior toward Black people inside the Midtown skyscraper that launched his show and political career. There are still questions about whether any of that behavior was caught on tape.

Bill Pruitt, a former producer on “The Apprentice,” published a recent account alleging that Trump actually used the racist slur to refer to Kwame Jackson, a Black contestant who was a finalist on the show’s first season. A spokesperson for Trump’s campaign has vehemently dismissed the account as false and politically motivated. President Joe Biden’s campaign, meanwhile, spotlighted Pruitt’s account on social media.

Trump, who hosted “The Apprentice” from 2004 to 2015, has long denied such claims and called former contestants criticizing him “failing wannabes” motivated by greed. But he has been trailed in his professional and political life by charges of racism, from a 1973 discrimination lawsuit against his real estate business, to his push to carry out executions of five Black and Latino youths who were later exonerated of rape allegations, to his yearslong fanning of the conspiracy theory that President Barack Obama — the nation’s first Black president — was not born in the United States.

The former Republican president’s first campaign in 2016 was rocked by allegations about his conduct on “The Apprentice” and other appearances during his association with NBC, notably in footage in which he said he could sexually assault women and get away with it because he was a “star.” MGM Studios, which bought the production company that made the show, has since been acquired by Amazon.

Almost a decade after he left his reality TV role to run for president, Trump’s television career remains central to his biography and political rise. It presented Trump Tower to tens of millions of people as a symbol of power and success before Trump launched his first campaign from the building’s lobby. Last week, the same lobby was the setting for his first appearance after being convicted of 34 felony counts in a hush money scheme to influence the 2016 election.

”‘The Apprentice’ is probably underrated as a source of that kind of image construction,” said Joel Penney, a professor at Montclair State University who studies the intersection of pop culture and politics. “There’s nobody who could possibly compete on the level of name recognition, brand recognition, that kind of familiarity.”

The roles of NBC and Amazon

“The Apprentice” and its spinoffs were on air for more than a decade, featuring people from all walks of life and later celebrities who competed in contrived business challenges to win Trump’s favor — and potentially a job with his organization.

Hundreds of cast and crew members signed non-disclosure agreements, limiting their ability to reveal what happened inside Trump Tower or any outtakes featuring the ex-president. The show’s producer as well as the network that broadcast it also have refused to release unaired footage. Over the last week, after the AP reached out to more than two dozen former crew members and contestants about Trump’s behind-the-scenes behavior, some said they wondered how contractual agreements may have insulated Trump from blowback about politically volatile comments.

Folkes said he believes his exchanges with Trump inside the bar were recorded since he was still wearing a mic.

After his firing in October 2010, Folkes blogged about his experience on the show. He said he soon got a call from NBC executives. According to a document provided by Folkes, in early November NBC’s then-vice president for legal affairs, Shelly Tremain, sent him a cease-and-desist order and said the network would seek to recover $1 million if he kept talking about his participation in the series or violating his “application agreement.”

Folkes fired back to Tremain’s team in an email, saying his portrayal on the show was “unfortunate, inaccurate, stereotyping being applied to a member of a protected class,” according to a copy of the message viewed by the AP. “Review the boardroom scene of episode 5 in its entirety for a very clear picture of the false portrayal and stereotyping … I harbor no interest in publicly commenting about Mr. Trump.”

Folkes said the network did provide him with extra therapy sessions following his firing, which he said helped him to process the reputational damage he suffered as a contestant. NBC declined to comment about him and Tremain did not respond to a message.

“After a decade of (military) service, I can take a lot of stress. It’s not like, ‘Oh, he fired me and hurt my feelings,’” Folkes said. “When I say I am offended, that is a high bar to cross.”

Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement that “these completely fabricated accusations” had already been debated in 2016 “and thoroughly debunked,” dismissing all of them as rooted in campaign politics.

“Now that Crooked Joe Biden and the Democrats are losing the election, and President Trump continues to dominate, they are bringing up old fake stories from the past because they are desperate,” he said.

Folkes previously spoke out against Trump’s candidacy and his comments toward and about female cast and crew members in an AP investigation published in October 2016. After reading the AP story, “Access Hollywood” producers said they dug into their own show’s archive, uncovering a 2005 tape in which Trump made lewd remarks about being sexually aggressive toward women.

The tape sparked outrage and calls from some Republicans for Trump to drop out a month before the election. He didn’t — and won. But many of his opponents have continued to press those involved in “The Apprentice” to release their archives, partly out of a belief that a tape of Trump using the racist slur exists.

Entertainment giant MGM said in 2016 that it owned the archive of the reality TV show and contractual obligations kept it from unilaterally releasing any unaired, archived material. In 2022, the online shopping giant Amazon finalized its acquisition of MGM, one of the oldest studios in Hollywood. Amazon MGM Studios declined to comment.

The show’s executive producer Mark Burnett also has said that he doesn’t have the ability or right to release footage from the show. NBC has stated that it does not own the series footage and only licensed it from Burnett for broadcast.

A new account

Writing for Slate in an article published last week, Pruitt described a meeting with Trump in the show’s boardroom set, where he famously would dismiss contestants.

According to Pruitt’s account, one of Trump’s company’s managers suggested picking Jackson over Bill Rancic, the other remaining contestant and a white man. After a debate over Jackson’s performance on the show, Pruitt writes, Trump winced before asking if America would accept a Black man winning, referring to Jackson by the racist slur.

Pruitt said he was coming forward now because his non-disclosure agreement — which carried a possible $5 million fine if violated — expired this year. He told the AP that he recalled all quotes in his article to the best of his ability and that the conversation was recorded.

“He’s about to run for a second term as president of the United States and I heard him use a term that should have and would have abolished him from politics forever had more people heard about it,” Pruitt said. “Anyone who is capable of using it shouldn’t be leading the country.”

The Trump campaign denied Pruitt’s claim that Trump used the slur. “Prove it,” wrote Cheung, the campaign spokesperson, on the X platform, adding that Biden’s allies were “peddling” the story “because Biden is hemorrhaging support from Black Americans.” The Democratic president has seen his support among Black voters fall sharply since taking office.

In 2005, a year after Pruitt claims Trump used the slur, the former president proposed a “Blacks” versus “whites” version of “The Apprentice” on “The Howard Stern Show,” telling listeners he was considering creating an episode pitting “nine Blacks against nine whites, all highly educated, very smart, strong, beautiful people.”

In an interview, Jackson said Trump never said the slur to his face. But he said Pruitt’s account and the conversation about an alleged Trump recording spotlighted the nation’s inability to resolve broader questions of what kind of speech voters will tolerate in 2024.

“The bigger problem for me is none of this really matters because America is entirely comfortable with both overt and covert racism. And whether there is a smoking gun that says Trump called me an N-word and a tape appears tomorrow, what will that change? How will that make a difference?” said Jackson, president of his own brand marketing, diversity and inclusion consulting firm.

Political pressure

Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, argues Biden’s immigration and economic policies have deprived Black communities of jobs and resources. He and his allies have suggested he can cut into Biden’s margins with Black voters, long a core Democratic constituency.

He has also sought to get a boost from his criminal charges and suggested in February to a mostly Black audience that African Americans related to him more because he had been indicted.

Biden has pointed to several measures benefitting Black Americans, including more funding for historically Black colleges and universities, forgiveness of federal student loan debt and pardons for federal possession of marijuana charges. His campaign has also sought to draw attention to Trump’s past.

On Monday, Biden’s campaign posted a TikTok video featuring coverage of Pruitt’s allegations, as well as the affirmation of Omarosa Manigault Newman, who went from a show contestant to White House aide to a Trump critic, that she had heard a tape of Trump using the slur.

“Donald Trump is exactly who we all knew he was — a lifelong racist,” a woman says in the TikTok. “Black voters kicked Donald Trump out of the White House in 2020, and we’re going to do it again this November.”

Marshawn Evans Daniels, who was one of two Black contestants competing on the fourth season of “The Apprentice,” said she never heard Trump use racist language on set.

“‘The Apprentice’ was a baptism in the highest levels of business and I was always praised,” said Evans Daniels, an attorney, author and consultant. “I never had a negative experience but that doesn’t usually happen when you are there in the room.”

That same season, winner Randal Pinkett was rewarded with a job working for Trump. But Pinkett, who is also Black, said Trump treated him differently than other previous winners and asked him to share his title with a white contestant.

“If I give Donald the benefit of the doubt, then what he did to me was racially insensitive,” said Pinkett, now a CEO of an international consulting firm who has also previously criticized Trump. “If I do not give him the benefit of doubt, which I do not, it was racist. And it therefore does not surprise me that he would say the N-word.”

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Netflix has announced the title of its eagerly anticipated music docuseries, Pop Star Academy: KATSEYE, set to debut this summer. The series will provide an unprecedented glimpse into the year-long process of creating KATSEYE, a one-of-a-kind girl group poised for global stardom.

The docuseries, a collaboration between HYBE and Geffen Records, will offer a compelling portrayal of the rigorous training and development program designed to cultivate top-tier musical talent. With exclusive access to behind-the-scenes moments, fans will witness the highs and lows of the journey undertaken by the 20 contestants vying for a coveted spot in the group.

Pop Star Academy: KATSEYE is produced by HYBE, Interscope Films, and Boardwalk Pictures. The series is directed by award-winning filmmaker Nadia Hallgren, renowned for her work on the four-time Emmy® nominated Netflix documentary Becoming. Hallgren’s expertise promises to bring a rich, emotional depth to the series, capturing both the challenges and triumphs faced by the contestants.

The selection process for KATSEYE began with over 120,000 submissions from aspiring artists worldwide, following the announcement of the HYBE x Geffen Global Girl Group Audition in November 2021. The chosen 20 contestants hail from diverse countries, showcasing the international scope and ambition of the project.

Pop Star Academy: KATSEYE is scheduled to debut on Netflix in the summer of 2024.

Related

When Aurora James, founder of the brand Brother Vellies and the Fifteen Percent Pledge and vice chair of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, heard the news about the Fearless Fund ruling, she took to social media immediately.

In a TikTok video posted after the news broke, the founder unpacked the federal appeals court ruling that suspended the program, which largely awarded funding to Black women-owned businesses, after it was sued by the American Alliance for Equal Rights, a group led by Edward Blum, the conservative activist behind the Supreme Court case that ended affirmative action in college admissions.

“The past four years have been really exhausting, especially for the Black community, and that’s exactly when people like [Blum] swoop in and try to legislate things that counteract the progress that we’ve made, and they sort of want us to be too distracted or too tired to notice,” James told theGrio. 

She noted that speaking out about what’s happening and “galvanizing” people through her platform is important at a time like this.  

This advocacy, along with the inroads she’s made for Black businesses through the Fifteen Percent Pledge, has earned her a place among those being honored by the New York Urban League during the organization’s 58th annual Frederick Douglass Awards gala Thursday. The gala’s honorary co-chairs this year include Meagan Good, Tonya Lewis Lee, and Bethann Hardison. Others being honored alongside James are George Gresham and Renee McClure. 

When asked how it felt to receive this honor, James said, “To be honest, it’s a bit bittersweet.”

“The past six to eight months have been a little bit challenging with people trying to roll back some of the progress that we’ve made in the equity and inclusion space,” she continued. “But I think, you know, this award is really important because it speaks to the work.” 

James, the first Black female designer to ever win a Council of Fashion Designers of America Award, launched Brother Vellies in 2013 with the ambitious goal of creating a brand free from exploitation. The result has been a celebrated brand offering one-of-a-kind luxury shoes and accessories by African artisans that patrons can feel good about wearing.

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She didn’t stop there. After watching big-name brands and businesses commit to doing their part to move the needle for Black and brown people in this country during the racial upheaval surrounding George Floyd’s death, James founded the Fifteen Percent Pledge in 2020. Her mission was to get major retailers like Nordstrom, Sephora and Macy’s to dedicate 15% of their shelf space to Black brands. Since it launched, 28 companies, including Nordstrom, Sephora and Macy’s, have joined the pledge.

“We’ve all heard the saying that talent is distributed equally, but opportunity and access is not,” James said. “I think the pledge, and really that initial call to action that I posted on social media four years ago, is just about opening up some of the access for people. And these are people who are brilliant.” 

James is aware there are those like the Blums of the world who may view initiatives like the Fifteen Percent Pledge or the Fearless Fund as somehow exclusionary. Many say things like, “Why can’t this go to the best candidate?” She challenges that way of thinking by highlighting how these funds actually help to ensure the best are receiving the platform. 

“Previously, there were so many groups that have just been historically excluded,” she noted, adding, “A lot of these stores would just buy whatever the next Heinz product is or the next Estee Lauder product is. It’s easier just to keep plugging in with these giant companies that you already sell and have a relationship with than it is to actually take a chance on a small business.”

However, taking that chance can be a win-win for all parties. James noted how brands have been given a chance through her pledge and it has been life-changing for the founders and their brands. One founder approached her recently to share that he had been able to buy a house for his family through his work with the pledge. 

James said driving the needle for Black and brown businesses ultimately boils down to what we give our attention to. Spending attention could look like how you vote in the upcoming election, what you spend your money on, and even what you literally pay attention to online and in culture. 

“We are in an attention economy. People are competing for your attention beyond anything else,” she said. “What you give your attention to is what will win the day. The Kardashians win because they get our attention on all the different platforms. It’s tough. America has a lot of different ways. So, if we redirect our attention, we can also redirect a lot of the power in this country.”