Donald Trump may have never decided to run for president if it wasn't for Gwen Stefani—at least, that's what legendary documentary-maker Michael Moore claimed. The Fahrenheit 9/11 producer shared his theory on how Trump's presidency came to be during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter released Wednesday.
"He'd been talking about running for president since 1998, but he didn't really want to be president," Moore said.
So what coerced Trump's decision? According to Moore, jealousy over Stefani's salary for The Voice may have had something to do with it. Moore claimed Trump, who was the star of NBC's The Apprentice, was enraged when he learned the network offered to pay a Stefani a hefty sum of money when she replaced Christina Aguilera as a judge on the competitive singing show in 2014.
THR previously reported Stefani was likely offered up to $10 million in personal coaching fees to join the panel of judges. Trump claimed to have grossed $213 million over the 11 years he spent on The Apprentice, while NBC execs claimed the real estate mogul likely earned about $100 million during his time on the show, according to a New York Times report in 2016.
Moore said Trump believed he and his show was more popular and therefore made him entitled to more money than Stefani. As a way to prove his significance for the network, he staged his campaign announcement from the top of Trump Tower in June 2015. Moore said Trump never actually intended to run for president, but rather, his campaign announcement was just a ploy to ruffle the network's feathers.
"There's no penthouse in the White House. And he doesn't want to live in a black city. He was trying to pit NBC against another network, but it just went off the rails," Moore said.
NBC fired Trump after he made controversial comments about Mexican immigrants in August 2015. With an influx of support following his presidential campaign announcement, though, Trump decided to push for the presidency full steam ahead.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Michigan native, Janice Williams is a graduate of Oakland University where she studied journalism and communication. Upon relocating to New ... Read more
