Just days after Tom Arnold told Seattle's KIRO Radio that he has "Apprentice" outtakes of Donald Trump saying "every offensive, racist thing ever," the comedian is claiming that lawyers for the president-elect are threatening to sue him.
"Wife told me there's house line VM from Trump Camp about defamation suit so it's on!" Arnold tweeted Tuesday. "Open Apprentice vaults 4 discovery! Miss Universe too!!"
According to a source with Mediaite, team Trump has not made a decision about a potential lawsuit. Mediaite is awaiting a response from Arnold's management team and publicist.
Last week, Arnold told KIRO Radio host Dori Monson that he initially declined to release the video to keep his friends who worked on "The Apprentice" from facing trouble.
"When the people sent it to me, it was funny," Arnold told Monson. "Hundreds of people have seen these. It was sort of a Christmas video they put together. He wasn’t going to be president of the United States. It was him sitting in that chair saying the N-word, saying the C-word."
Arnold, who is reportedly friends with the new host of “The Apprentice,” Arnold Schwarzenegger, claims that Schwarzenegger’s agent encouraged him to release the tapes in an effort to support Hillary Clinton.
"The Sunday before the election, I get a call from Arnold (Schwarzenegger's) CAA agent, sitting next to Hillary Clinton. They said, ‘I need you to release him saying the N-word.’ I said, ‘Well, now these people – two editors and an associate producer — are scared to death. They’re scared of his people, they’re scared of they’ll never work again, there’s a $5 million confidentiality agreement.’"
Arnold said that while he doesn’t think the outtakes would have hurt Trump during the election, he does believe they will eventually be made public.
When a Twitter user on Wednesday asked Arnold why the public needs the “tapes to prove what we already know” about Trump, Arnold replied, "Talked tapes in Oct. Need crew guy 2 approve release but scared 4 fam so face2face asked highups. LS exposes truth but Taxes&Russia2013 WORSE."
– The Cox Media Group National Content Desk contributed to this report.
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