By RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com, originally filed January 5, 2015
NBC's lateset edition of "Celebrity Apprentice," which debuted Sunday night, was taped in the winter of 2014, long before Bill Cosby's name became synonymous with "alleged rapist."
At the time, Cosby was still considered "America's favorite TV dad."
So his name came up reverentially quite often during the first show.
Why? Atlanta-based former "Cosby" kid Keshia Knight Pulliam (Rudy!) volunteered to be the first project manager for the women's team, dubbed Infinity.
And her team got throttled by the men's team Vortex, led by Fox News journalist Geraldo Rivera.
The first challenge was selling pies for charity. And Keshia didn't call Cosby for money, which fellow Atlantan and "Real Housewives of Atlanta" star Kenya Moore pointed out early on. She was ready to use that as fodder against Keshia.
And Kenya didn't disappoint, bringing up Cosby in the boardroom before Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump and former "Apprentice" winner Piers Morgan.
Keshia was forced to explain that she didn't feel comfortable calling Cosby out of the blue for money since she was no longer close to him.
[UPDATE: To Savannah Guthrie on the "Today" show, Keshia more or less repeated what she had said on "Celebrity Apprentice": “It’s funny, I know ‘The Cosby Show’ is in reruns and everyone assumes that we’re this family that, like, has dinner every Friday night. But the reality was, I hadn’t spoken to Mr. Cosby and I felt that it would be kind of tactless, you know, very rude to call someone and be like, ‘Hey, so, let me have some money right now.’”
She also tactfully addressed the women who alleged Cosby had taken advantage of them sexually: “Ultimately, they’re that, allegations. And it’s very much been played out in the court of public opinion. But, you know, we’re still in America where ultimately you’re innocent til proven guilty and, you know, I wasn’t there. That’s just not the man I know so I can’t speak to it.”]
That didn't impress any of the judges. Ultimately, Keshia only raised about $8,000 for the challenge and the ladies, even with a $25,000 bonus for cooking the better pie, collectively raised $93,000. The men? $183,000. Geraldo's fundraising prowess was bolstered by his powerful buddies at Fox News, including Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity.
One thing any celebrity going in knows is that there will be a few charity tasks and they would need to line their ducks in a row before the competition starts to ensure they'll have some money coming in. And don't expect their team to necessarily help them. If a celebrity is not project manager, they may choose to hold their biggest guns until they are project manager themselves so the money will go to their charity, not someone else's. It's a bit of a chess game.
Despite presumptions on the contrary, some celebrities have few rich friends and struggle to raise any money. Lorenzo Lamos and Kate Gossselin essentially pulled in nil.
As an advisor, Piers was very clear to the women at the beginning about focusing on the money in this task. Keshia knew she had a formidable rival in Geraldo and tried to ensure she got the bonus money for a better pie, figuring she needed that cash. Unfortunately, some of her big whales failed to come through with another $20-$25,000 and even if they had, she would have still fallen well short of beating the guys.
You do have to give the reality show stars like Kenya and Kate credit for knowing how to build drama. Both had no compunction throwing Keshia under the bus in front of Trump. Neither felt Keshia did a particularly good job delegating tasks, although it's clear that didn't matter much in this particular situation. Keshia's team was simply outgunned in the fundraising department by Rivera on the guy's side. (Kevin Jonas, by the way, did spend an inordinate time sniping behind Rivera's back and that appears to continue Monday night.)
Ultimately, Trump had no choice but to dump Keshia, the ignominious first celebrity cut.
Keshia knew by volunteering to be the first project manager, she was placing a big X on her back. "Go big or go home," she said early on and repeated in the boardroom. She wanted to prove her worth from the start to make a statement.
"Despite what was said in here, I think I did an awesome job," Keshia said proudly.
But one team has to lose. And someone had to take the blame. So she went home.
Keshia has her own charity Kamp Kizzy, which helps raise self esteem for teen girls. Trump ultimately gave her $25,000 out of his own pocket. And the publicity from this show won't hurt either.
"You are a spectacular," Trump said. "You are an amazing person." He really believed that Cosby would have helped her out if she had given him a call.
But she had to go home.
"Suicide" is how Piers Morgan described Keshia's efforts, given who she was up against.
TEASER for Monday's episode: Brandi Glanville calls Kenya "evil" in the boardroom. Trump asks how she considers that statement. "I don't consider anything she says,' Kenya responds.
TV preview
"Celebrity Apprentice" returns at 8 p.m. Monday, January 5, 2015
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