Trump, “Apprentice” loser going Hollywood

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Real estate mogul and reality TV
star Donald Trump is adding a Hollywood production company to
his business empire and named a “fired” contestant from “The
Apprentice” to run it, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

The entertainment trade paper Daily Variety reported that
one of the company’s first projects is likely to be a TV
version of the classic board game “Monopoly,” although the
Trump representative could not confirm this.

Andy Litinsky, who was “fired” from the second season of
Trump’s NBC reality show “The Apprentice,” will oversee the new
company, which does not yet have a name.

Trump, 60, already has had a hand in producing “The
Apprentice,” as well as the Miss USA and Miss Universe
pageants, but he wanted an outlet for developing new programs.

“There so many things being thrown at me, a lot of them
based in L.A., I just thought it would be appropriate,” he told
Variety. “It’s a business I like.”

Litinsky, a champion debater and Harvard graduate from
Florida, was 23 when he appeared on “The Apprentice 2″ as one
of 18 corporate wannabes competing for a top job in the Trump
organization.

Trump gave him his trademark dismissal “You’re fired!”
after Litinsky made it to the final six but Trump later hired
him as project manager on his business development team.

“He’s a very capable guy,” Trump said of Litinsky.

Reuters/VNU