Bill Cosby’s name overshadows ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ premiere

The Celebrity Apprentice premiere took a strange turn on Sunday night when actress Keshia Knight Pulliam, who served as project manager on the first challenge of the season, was eliminated by host Donald Trump after she didn’t use her connections with Bill Cosby to raise money for her team.

The subplot was a very significant part of the episode, as Pulliam (most famous for starring as Cosby’s daughter Rudy on NBC’s The Cosby Show) was taken to task for not calling Cosby and asking the very wealthy comedian for a charitable donation to her team. The premiere was taped about a year ago, way before the disturbing allegations of sexual assault against Cosby went mainstream.

Trump jumped on the fact that Pulliam didn’t tap into every resource. “There is a truth to that,” he said, agreeing with Moore’s point as everyone started bickering. “You could have called him ... did you call Bill?”

“I did not,” Pulliam snapped, exasperated. “I have not talked to Bill Cosby on the phone in, I don’t know how long. So for me to pick up the phone having not talked to you for five years, except for when we run into each other for a Cosby event, I feel like that’s not my place to do.”

After the episode aired, Trump apparently didn’t have any problems with it.

“This show was taped just before the terrible Bill Cosby revelations came to light,” he tweeted. “She still should have asked him for money — goes to charity.”

When Pulliam stopped by the Today show on Monday morning, co-host Savannah Guthrie brought up the sexual assault allegations against Cosby.

“What I can say is this. I wasn’t there. No one was there except the two people to know exactly what happened,” said Pulliam. “All I can speak to is the man that I know and I love. That he has been such an example, and you can’t take away from the great that he has done. You know, the millions and millions of dollars that he has given back to colleges and education. And just what he did with The Cosby Show and how groundbreaking that was.”

“Were you shocked by the allegations?” Guthrie asked.

“Ultimately, they’re that, allegations,” Pulliam said. “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 till proven guilty and, you know, I wasn’t there. That’s just not the man I know so I can’t speak to it.”