Once upon a time, Sylvester Stallone hosted his own reality television show called The Contender, much to the dismay of former president Donald Trump. The Rocky legend teamed up with Sugar Ray Leonard, well known as one of the greatest boxers of all time, on a series that gave 16 young boxers the chance to become the next big contact sports sensation. The Contenders was nominated for two Primetime Emmys, but that did not stop Trump from reportedly talking trash about Stallone’s performance as a TV host.

While at the TV market Mipcom, the co-editor-in-chief of Variety, Ramin Setoodeh, revealed how he observed the convicted former president crafting his reality TV persona and how Trump still speaks ill of Stallone to this day. He interviewed Trump several times after his presidency, discovering that The Apprentice holds a disdain for Stallone after appearing in The Contenders, which shared Mark Burnett as a producer. Apparently, Trump remarked that “Sylvester Stallone wasn’t as good at making TV,” going as far as to say that the Oscar-nominated actor “couldn’t remember his lines, couldn’t deliver the words to the prompter.” Nearly 20 years since the show’s debut, it seems Trump’s jealousy still holds strong when it comes to Stallone. Setoodeh continued:

“’Sylvester Stallone wasn’t as good as me; Mark Burnett said I was better than Sylvester Stallone at being a reality star.’ I just think we need to let this sink in: Donald Trump has been president for four years, he’s been leader of the free world for those four years, and what he’s still fixated on was the fact that he was a better reality star than Sylvester Stallone.”

Although The Contenders lived on several networks from 2005 to 2008, it was most recently rebooted for Epix in 2018 for a fifth season. At that point, Stallone had already left the program after having only served as a presenter for Season 1. The long-forgotten reality TV series was not exactly a sure-fire success for Stallone, but it’s not a blemish on his illustrious career either. Even if he could not remember his lines or read off a teleprompter, it seems Trump had his own behind-the-scenes issues of his own.

Trump Had His Own Reality TV Problems Behind the Scenes

According to Setoodeh, who authored the book Apprentice in Wonderland: How Donald Trump and Mark Burnett Took America Through the Looking Glass, Trump was well-known for his inappropriate behavior behind the curtains of his hit reality TV series The Apprentice. To the author, it was the precursor to how the convicted former president would eventually handle his political career, which is looking to be revived with the upcoming U.S. presidential election.

“There was inappropriate behavior. There were boundaries that were crossed. He got very close to some of the female contestants. He flirted with them a little bit. He said inappropriate things about them. So really,
The Apprentice
is an origin story for Donald Trump’s political years, and you see how he became the president that he became through his conduct on the show.”

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Although Trump tried to get his upcoming biopic banned from theaters, The Apprentice starring Sebastian Stan chronicles much of the early professional life of the eventual U.S. president. Although it doesn’t really delve into his time as a reality TV host, nor was it intended to be a “political hit piece,” perhaps it will be useful for those interested in learning about Trump outside his political persona.

Release Date January 8, 2004 Seasons 17 Expand