Margaret Cho Says Trump Invited Her to The Apprentice Multiple Times
Comedian and actor Margaret Cho recently shared a surprising story about former reality TV host and current U.S. President Donald Trump. During a recent radio interview, Cho revealed that she was invited to compete on the hit reality series The Apprentice several times over the years. What surprised her even more was the reason producers kept reaching out. According to Cho, they repeatedly told her that Trump was a big fan of her comedy.
For Cho, the idea always felt strange. In fact, she said she never seriously considered joining the show because something about the situation did not feel right to her.
Here is a closer look at Cho’s story, her brief connection to the show, and why she ultimately decided to stay away from the competition.
Margaret Cho Says Producers Reached Out Season After Season
Cho recently appeared on The Julia Cunningham Show, where she talked about the unusual invitations she received during the years when The Apprentice was one of the biggest television shows.
The comedian explained that producers asked her multiple times to appear as a contestant. The requests did not stop after just one season. Instead, they kept coming back again and again.
She recalled what they told her when trying to convince her to participate.
“I was asked several times to be on it, season after season, and they kept saying, ‘Well, Donald Trump really loves you. Please come on.’”
Despite hearing that Trump supposedly admired her work, Cho said the invitation never felt right to her. Something about the situation gave her pause.
According to the comedian, she trusted her instincts and declined each time.
She Did Appear Briefly During One Challenge
Even though Cho never officially joined the competition, she did appear briefly on the show in a small way.
Her involvement began when her friend and fellow entertainer Cyndi Lauper competed in one of the celebrity seasons. Lauper, best known for the hit song “Time After Time,” participated in the series’ celebrity edition, where well-known figures competed for charity.
Cho explained that she helped Lauper during one of the tasks that took place inside a diner.
“I just had a bad feeling about it, because I did go on one of the challenges cause my friend Cyndi Lauper was competing one year, and so she did something at a diner, so I went, and I helped out. I was at the diner, and so I was part of an episode, but I never actually was a contestant, but I was asked several times because Donald Trump was a fan.”
So while Cho technically appeared on the show in a limited way, she never signed on as an official contestant competing for the top spot.
How The Apprentice Became a Cultural Phenomenon
The show that Cho was repeatedly invited to join first premiered in 2004. Created by television producer Mark Burnett, The Apprentice followed contestants who competed in business-themed challenges. Each week, one participant would be eliminated by Trump with the now-famous phrase, “You’re fired.”
The show quickly became a major hit. It helped turn Trump into a national television personality and introduced him to millions of viewers who had not followed his real estate career.
Several seasons later, the format expanded into The Celebrity Apprentice. This version featured actors, musicians, athletes, and television personalities competing to raise money for charities they supported.
One of those celebrity seasons aired in 2010 and included Lauper as a contestant, which is how Cho briefly became connected to the series.
Michael Cohen Later Contacted Cho During the 2016 Campaign
Cho also revealed that years later, she received another unexpected message related to Trump. This time it came during the early stages of the 2016 presidential campaign.
According to Cho, Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, somehow obtained her email address and tried to recruit her to support the campaign.
The request shocked her because of her long-standing political views.
“At the beginning of the [Trump] campaign in 2016, Michael Cohen somehow got my email and was really begging me to become part of the campaign, and I’m like, ‘That’s insane. I’m a lifelong Democrat.”
For Cho, the request simply did not make sense.
Cho Says She Barely Knew Who Trump Was
During the interview, Cho explained that at the time she did not even know much about Trump personally.
While he had been well known in New York business and media circles for years, she said his reputation did not necessarily extend nationwide before reality television.
“Why would I back somebody that — I didn’t know anything about him, also, because I’m not a New Yorker. I never had any clue about really who he was. I think that he was just such a regional kind of phenomenon at that point. Nobody outside of New York really knew, but I was just like, ‘Why would you ask me that?’”
Her confusion made the campaign outreach feel even stranger.
Cho Calls the Situation “So Weird”
During the conversation, host Julia Cunningham pointed out that the idea of Trump being a fan of Cho’s comedy seemed unusual given their very different public personas.
Cho agreed that the whole situation felt strange.
“It’s so weird.”
The comedian has built her career on sharp political humor and outspoken commentary. Over the years, she has frequently criticized political figures, including Trump.
She has previously described him as “abhorrent” and has been vocal about her opposition to his policies.
Cho Continues to Stay Busy in Film and Television
Even though she never joined The Apprentice, Cho’s career has remained active across television and film.
She continues to appear in guest roles on popular shows and in new movie projects. Recently, she appeared in episodes of the crime drama Will Trent. She is also part of the cast in the upcoming film I Want Your Sex, directed by Olivia Wilde.
Cho also stars in the series Dying for Sex, adding another project to her long list of acting credits.
While the idea of joining a reality competition like The Apprentice once crossed her path several times, Cho ultimately chose a different direction. Looking back, she seems confident that trusting her instincts was the right decision.
TL;DR
- Comedian Margaret Cho revealed she was invited several times to compete on The Apprentice.
- Producers repeatedly told her that Donald Trump was a big fan of her comedy.
- Cho declined the invitations because she said she had a bad feeling about joining the show.
- She briefly appeared on one episode while helping her friend Cyndi Lauper during a diner challenge on The Celebrity Apprentice.
- Cho said Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, later emailed her during the early days of the 2016 presidential campaign, asking her to support Trump.
- The comedian was shocked by the request and said she is a lifelong Democrat.
- Cho also explained that before Trump’s political rise, she did not know much about him because she was not part of the New York media scene.
- She described the idea of Trump being a fan of her comedy as “so weird.”
- Cho has openly criticized Trump for years and previously called him “abhorrent.”
- Today, she continues to work in television and film with projects including Will Trent, Dying for Sex, and the movie I Want Your Sex.
