As documents continue to release from the Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit against Fox News, a rather interesting nugget came out from the deposition of Rupert Murdoch: Fox Business considered purchasing the rights to The Apprentice.
During his deposition, Murdoch was asked if the potential purchase was “a way to satisfy Mr. Trump” and a way to “bring him in the tent”, which Murdoch denied by simply stating “No”.
“You have a lot of crazy ideas in business. We talk about it, we do something, or we don’t do it,” Murdoch said, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Fox News came under fire from Trump and his campaign team in the days and weeks after the network called the state of Arizona for challenger Joe Biden. Trump railed against the decision, before floating unproven claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged against him.
The consideration of purchasing The Apprentice — which aired on NBC from 2004 until 2017 — would have given the network a competitor to CNBC’s re-airs of Shark Tank.
“Trump would want a fortune but maybe it’s worth it,” Murdoch wrote in a message uncovered in the lawsuit.
It is unclear if Fox Business intended to purchase the rights to previously aired programs or intended to produce new episodes. However, Murdoch had shared that he had “second thoughts” about the potential deal because “Trump would turn it into a full-time campaign vehicle”.
A previously released email showed that Murdoch believed Trump’s businesses were “ruined” and that the former President’s brand had been “poisoned” by the January 6th Insurrection.
