(CNN) — Bill Cosby made things uncomfortable Sunday night on “Celebrity Apprentice.”
The beleaguered star isn’t a contestant this season on the NBC reality show, which pits teams of celebs against each other for business-related tasks, but his name became embroiled in the season premiere’s storyline.
On Sunday NBC aired the first episode, which was filmed before rape and sexual assault allegations began mounting against Cosby. One of the competitors, Keisha Knight Pulliam, is famous for playing beloved youngest daughter Rudy Huxtable on “The Cosby Show.”
The actress served as project manager for her all-female team in which the women were trying to raise money for her charity Kamp Kizzy, which seeks to empower girls.
After her team failed to fare as well as they could have in the challenge, they faced a grilling in the boardroom from host Donald Trump. “Real Housewives of Atlanta” cast member Kenya Moore told Trump her teammate declined to reach out to former co-star Cosby for a donation.
“I have not talked to Bill Cosby on the phone in I don’t know how long,” Knight Pulliam said emotionally. “So for me to pick up the phone, having not talked to you for five years, except for when we run into each other for a Cosby event, I feel that’s not my place to do.”
Her explanation was unacceptable to Trump, who said, “I really believe, if you’d called that gentleman he would’ve helped you, even if you hadn’t spoken to him in years. Because you were an amazing team with one of the most successful shows ever. So I think it would’ve been a very good call to make for charity.”
Trump “fired” her from the show. While not directly commenting on her ousting from the series, the actress did tweet: “Ohhh the deception of editing… Smh!!”
For his part, Trump tweeted to his followers after that: “This show was taped just before the terrible Bill Cosby revelations came to light. She still should have asked him for money-goes to charity.”
