MoveOn Urges Release of Trump 'Apprentice' Footage

MoveOn.org is trying to get its members to pressure NBC and MGM to release unaired footage from Republican candidate Donald Trump's time on The Apprentice.

At press time the group had over 68,000 signatures on a petition calling for its release.

According to various reports, show producer Mark Burnett has said there are contractual issues that prevent their release, but MoveOn is not taking no for an answer.

Following the leak of a tape that showed Donald Trump and Today host Billy Bush in 2005 (when Bush was with Access Hollywood) in a misogynistic conversation about women, MoveOn cites "multiple TV producers" suggesting there is "much worse" footage from the long-running NBC reality show.

Related: UltraViolet Action Petitions NBC, MGM to Release Trump Tapes

NBC suspended Bush following the tape's publication by The Washington Post.

MoveOn sent out an email to supporters late Monday asking them to sign the petition demanding the release of the tapes before the Nov. 8 election.

"If we speak up now while the media is reeling from the leak, we can force NBC and MGM, the studio that now owns the unaired footage from Trump's reality TV show, to stop protecting Trump and release the rest of the tapes," the email said. 

Trump is already dropping in the polls and some high-powered Republicans are distancing themselves from the campaign or suggesting Trump distance himself from the ticket.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.