Trump once fired Illinois native on the ‘Apprentice’ for ‘locker room’ comment

President-elect Donald Trump speaks to supporters aboard the USS Iowa battleship in Los Angeles on Sept. 15. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

By Ronnie Glassberg The Charlotte Observer

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, under fire for vulgar remarks he made about women in 2005, has dismissed the comments as “locker room talk.” But six years ago, he booted a female contestant off “Celebrity Apprentice 3” for a “locker room” comment.

Trump fired professional wrestler Maria Kanellis, an Illinois native, after she made a comment about contestant Curtis Stone and his bowel movements.

“Isn’t it sort of gross bringing that up? It’s like disgusting,” Trump said. “This is my board room. It’s not a locker room. Maria, you’re fired.”

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Kanellis had accused Stone of being arrogant.

“You came in our dressing room and you took a crap and left the stench in the room,” she said. “So that is the whole purpose of why I was upset. It wasn’t your room. It wasn’t your place to go.”

Trump told Kanellis: “That’s a little bit random. Don’t you think? … That’s pretty tough.”

On Friday, the Washington Post published a 2005 video in which Trump boasted in explicit terms about how his celebrity allowed him to sexually assault women without consequence.

At the debate, Trump defended his comments.

“I don’t think you understood what was — this was locker room talk. I’m not proud of it. I apologize to my family. I apologize to the American people. Certainly I’m not proud of it. But this is locker room talk,” he said.

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