1 month ago
28
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.
Mark Burnett and President-elect Donald J. Trump had a long and successful collaboration that made Mr. Trump a household name.
Dec. 21, 2024, 8:03 p.m. ET
President-elect Donald J. Trump has tapped Mark Burnett, the producer who helped turn him into a household name with “The Apprentice,” as special envoy to Britain.
“With a distinguished career in television production and business, Mark brings a unique blend of diplomatic acumen and international recognition to this important role,” Mr. Trump wrote in a social media post, noting that Mr. Burnett had won 13 Emmy Awards.
Mr. Burnett, 64, is perhaps best known for reshaping American television with the reality TV hit “Survivor” in 2000. He also helped produce shows like “Shark Tank,” “The Voice” and “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?”
But it is “The Apprentice” that will forever bind Mr. Burnett and Mr. Trump. The show, which debuted in 2004 on NBC and ran through 2017, was credited with rehabilitating Mr. Trump’s image after it was tarnished by financial difficulties. As The New Yorker put it, the reality show “mythologized him anew, and on a much bigger scale, turning him into an icon of American success.”
The show presented Mr. Trump as the ultimate successful, self-made billionaire. On it, contestants competed to prove their business skills through a series of challenges. One would be eliminated at the end of each episode with Mr. Trump’s catchphrase, “You’re fired!” He wielded it on the campaign trail, too. “Kamala, you’re fired!” Mr. Trump said frequently at his rallies this year.
The show eventually spawned a spinoff, “The Celebrity Apprentice.” Mr. Trump initially hosted that program, too, but he ended up being fired himself. In 2015, NBC severed ties with him after he referred to Mexican immigrants as rapists and murderers in a speech announcing his bid for the White House.
