This season, NBC's The Apprentice started off with two gay contestants, but they didn't last long. Carey Sherrell was fired in the third episode after he designed a tiny, pink, men's swimsuit, throwing Trump into a gay panic. Fan favorite Derek Arteta, a 34-year-old attorney, made it a little further, but found himself on the receiving end of "the cobra" after making an off-the-cuff joke about being white trash.

AfterElton.com recently spoke to Arteta about his experiences on the show and whether he feels Trump is homophobic.

AfterElton.com: Well, you sure went out with a bang! Congrats on adding W.T. for white trash along with the N- and F-words to the list of banned words!
Derek Arteta: [Laughs.] I'm glad to do what I can for the white trash force.

AE: Let's talk about the hypocrisy of Trump firing you simply for calling yourself "white trash" when he has said nasty things about people — Rosie O'Donnell, for instance — all the time.
DA: Especially when the week he fires me for saying "white trash" is the same week he's going on Wrestlemania. But especially the Rosie thing — calling her a fat-ass, a degenerate … I understand if he doesn't want someone who is acting like white trash working in his organization because his organization stands for luxury, but here's a man who is out there doing all these sorts of things.

I think, in his defense, though — he really is a nice guy, I really liked him a lot — I think he just had a really bad day. As he came in the boardroom, we sensed he was kind of cranky. I thought I could get away with saying that because we had a joking relationship. … For some reason that night, that comment must have hit too close to home for him.

AE: Do you think you deserved to be fired over a joke? You didn't seem that upset when you did your exit interview. Were you surprised? Disappointed?
DA: I was definitely surprised. It was unusual because they didn't edit much — what you saw was exactly how it happened. It literally happened that quickly. Everyone was shocked. I kind of laughed it off.

I was pretty happy because I went out the way I wanted to go out. I didn't go out because of my work performance; no one had to stab me in the back; and I went out being a smartass, kind of who I am. They edited it out, but once he fired me, I said, "OK, I'm off to get my unemployment check now. See ya!"

With Trump, though, it's no surprise to me. Just like in past seasons, you never quite know what he's going to fire you for. One week, he'll fire you for being disloyal to your friends. Another week, he'll fire you for being too loyal to your friends. It's a total crap shoot. Who are his favorites and who are not his favorites? Interestingly enough, for the first six episodes, most people felt I was on OK ground with him because he did joke around with me a lot — mostly about the gay thing, though.

AE: After you were fired, Trump went on about how inappropriate it was for you to have said that in the boardroom. Yet only a few minutes before, Trump was congratulating Tim for hooking up with Nicole. Is that proper boardroom conversation to discuss employees' personal lives and to congratulate a man on scoring?
DA: No, and that's what's so funny about this show. He likes to play like it's a real job interview. He likes to play like it's a serious situation, but it's a game show! That's why I went on the show. It's a competition. I wanted to have fun.

I think they just take it so seriously. How can you take it seriously when you have your candidates staying in a tent in the backyard? Talk about white trash! Either play it for what it is, or play it as a job interview. If it's going to be a job interview, then everyone should stay in the house, there should be no romance and if there is, you should fire people for having a romance.

AE: It reminded me of how he came out and asked Carey if he was gay in front of everyone. Again, not exactly professional. What were your thoughts on that?
DA: The funny thing is, he already knew the answer to that because Carey had come out to him in his auditions. He was doing [it] for the people at home. When Carey got fired, all my friends were asking me, "Is Trump homophobic? I can't believe he fired Carey because he's gay!" Honestly, I don't think Trump is homophobic at all.

When I first got cast, before I went on the show, I was reading his book — I forget which book it was — because I didn't know anything about him. It was written in the early '80s, and he was talking about his lawyer/good friend who was openly gay. Trump was talking about how he loved the guy and he was his best friend, and I was like, wow! That's respectful that in the early '80s, Trump could write a book where he's talking about embracing one of his good friends who is gay.

So I was like, well, he can't be homophobic. Even on the show, Trump would joke around with me about the gay issue. He seemed comfortable with it. He wasn't uncomfortable with the idea of having gay employees, I don't believe. We were at the Playboy Mansion and I was in the grotto with two half-naked girls, and he walks back there and says, "Hey ladies, you have nothing to worry about with Derek." [Laughs.] It was just that kind of joking relationship.

He didn't know about me until we went to dinner at Spago and he asked about my wife or girlfriend, and I told him, "I used to have a boyfriend." It kind of threw him for a loop and I said, "I'm gay, Mr. Trump." And he said, "Oh, so Ivanka does nothing for you?" I said, "No, not really." I was about to say, "No, but Don Junior does," but I decided that wouldn't be appropriate.

Page 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 - Next