Donald lashes out at Martha

2006-02-22 12:26

New York - The Donald is returning fire in his battle with domestic diva Martha Stewart over The Apprentice reality TV show.

In a biting letter to Stewart, delivered on Tuesday, Trump wrote that her version of The Apprentice was "a mistake for everybody - especially NBC".

Stewart's spokesperson did not return a call for comment.

The real-estate mogul was responding to Stewart's sniping to Newsweek magazine that Martha Stewart: The Apprentice floundered last fall - cancelled after one cycle - because Trump would not take his competing show off the schedule.

Her show was supposed to be the only Apprentice and was meant to start out with her firing Trump on the air, she told Newsweek in its issue on newsstands now. She had made similar comments in previous interviews.

"Having two Apprentices was as unfair to him as it was unfair to me," she told Newsweek. "But Donald really wanted to stay on."

Stinging comments

Trump's response in his letter bluntly asks Stewart to take responsibility for her "failed show".

"Your performance was terrible in that the show lacked mood, temperament and just about everything a show needs for success," he wrote. "I knew it would fail as soon as I first saw it - and your low ratings bore me out."

Ouch.

"Between your daughter, with her one-word statements, your letter writing and, most importantly, your totally unconvincing demeanor, it never had a chance - much as your daytime show is not exactly setting records," he wrote.

Then he really told her what he thought.

"Essentially, you made this firing up just as you made up your sell order of ImClone," said Trump, who claimed NBC did not intend to fire him on Stewart's show.

Martha proud of her work

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Stewart, who lost an appeal last month that ended her criminal case for lying about a sale of stock in the drug maker ImClone that sent her to jail for five months and nearly six months of house arrest, said she was bewildered by Trump's comments and tone.

"The letter is so mean-spirited and reckless that I almost can't believe my longtime friend Donald Trump wrote it," she stated.

"I am very proud of the work we did with Mark Burnett Productions and Mr Trump, who was an executive producer, on The Apprentice: Martha Stewart. We are even more pleased with our excellent daytime show Martha - syndicated by NBC Universal - which has just been nominated for six daytime Emmys (including best show and best host), was touted by The New York Times as one of the best shows on television, and has been embraced by our wonderful audience throughout the country."

On both versions of the reality show, Stewart and Trump would have the contenders perform business-related tasks, with the poorest performers getting fired each week until one candidate was left. The winner was given a high-paying job with a one-year contract in the host's company.

- AP