Ex-Contestant on ‘The Apprentice’ Accuses Trump of Inappropriate Advances

A former contestant from “The Apprentice,” accused Donald Trump of making unwanted sexual advances towards her after she was a contestant on the reality show.
Ex-Contestant on ‘The Apprentice’ Accuses Trump of Inappropriate Advances
Attorney Gloria Allred holds a press conference with Summer Zervos, a former candidate on “The Apprentice” season five, who is accusing Donald Trump of inappropriate sexual conduct October 14, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. ( Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
10/14/2016
Updated:
10/20/2016

Summer Zervos, a former contestant from the fifth season of “The Apprentice,” accused Republican candidate Donald Trump of making unwanted sexual advances towards her after she was a contestant on the reality show. 

Gloria Allred, who previously broke the Herman Cain sex scandal in 2012 and represented the women accusing Bill Cosby of sexual assault, flanked Zervos as she gave a tearful account of Trump’s advances in a press conference on Friday, Oct. 14.

Zervos reached out to Trump in 2007 with the hope of working for the Trump Organization. She met the real estate mogul-turned-reality television start in his New York office where he unexpectedly kissed her on the lips and suggested they meet at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles to discuss employment, she said.

The former reality television contestant said that Trump pursued her sexually in the hotel room while she refused his advances. She believes that she was not offered a position in the Trump Organization due to her refusing his advances. 

The allegation comes just hours after the Washington Post reported Kristin Anderson came forward and accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in a New York night club in the early 1990s. 

These accusations come in the wake of reports from The New York Times, People Magazine, and Palm Beach Post who all ran stories on Wednesday with testimonies of women who said Trump sexually assaulted them, and its unclear when the accusations are going to end. 

The subject of sexual assault took front and center in the 2016 election last Friday when audio was leaked of Trump bragging to Billy Bush in a 2005 Access Hollywood interview: “When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything,” he said, including grabbing them inappropriately. 

In the presidential debate on the following Sunday, Trump denied having made unwanted advances on women.

According to the accusers, that denial inspired them to go public with their claims.  

Trump has continued to deny any of the accusations, called it “100 percent fabricated,” and suggested that the accusers weren’t attractive enough to be believed. 

“Yeah, I’m gonna go after her,” he said in a North Carolina rally about Jessica Leeds—one of those profiled in the New York Times story. “Believe me, she would not be my first choice. That I can tell you. You don’t know. That would not be my first choice.”

He also attacked the People magazine reporter Natasha Stoynoff, saying she was a liar, and encouraged his supporters to visit her Facebook page and judge for themselves whether they would want to kiss her.

“She’s a liar. She is a liar,” he said. “She’s writing a story—check out her Facebook page, you'll understand.”

The motivation for them to come forward, other than to further their career is “probably a little fame.”

“They have no witnesses,” Trump said. “There’s nobody around. ... Some are doing it for probably a little fame. They get some free fame. It’s a total setup.”

In addition to attacking the accusers, his lawyers sent a letter to the New York Times demanding they retract their story, attacked Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, who is part owner of the Times and a donor to the Clinton Foundation, and floated that the allegations were part of a “global conspiracy.”