What to Know
Back when she appeared on President Donald Trump’s reality series Celebrity Apprentice, Lisa Rinna didn’t notice any obvious red flags—except for the fact that she witnessed him hit on a married woman while he himself was also married. Still, she had no reason to think he would later “ruin the world,” and she didn’t always think he was “horrible,” but she certainly does now.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum, 62, shared her thoughts on Trump in her book, You Better Believe I’m Gonna Talk About It.
She had nothing scandalous to share—until she remembered the time he hit on a married Playboy Playmate.
Apparently, people often go to Rinna hoping that she’ll be able to gossip about Trump and share something shocking and/or incriminating. However, when she worked with him on Celebrity Apprentice, she generally had a positive experience. But she did reveal that he “did hit on the married Playboy Playmate who had just had a baby,” per RadarOnline.
At the time, the unnamed Playboy Playmate had allegedly vented to Rinna, saying Trump “keeps coming on to me” even though she had a “one-year-old and a husband.” Not that Trump was single either. He was married to Melania. But is anyone really that surprised?
In spite of this, Rinna didn’t really have issues with Trump at the time.
She made it very clear that she does not support Trump’s politics, but supporting someone as a politician is very different from appreciating them as a reality TV personality. Based on Rinna’s description, it sounds like she had no problem with him as an entertainer. “There were no signs back then that he’d become the monster he is today,” she wrote, per The Independent. “Trump was a great entertainer. He would come out, say his lines, do his job, and move it along.”
But again, being “a great entertainer” does not mean someone would make a great president. “I do find it interesting that I didn’t think Trump was gross at the time,” she noted. “He was nice to me, he was professional, and on time. That’s all you ever want on a set.”
She continued, “Flash forward to today, I really dislike him. I think he’s horrible and has ruined the world. I was as shocked as anybody at who he became. Maybe he’s always been that way and he finally took the mask off.”
The internet had mixed reactions to Rinna’s claims. Some people think the signs were always there and criticized Rinna for not noticing. But others could understand where Rinna seemed to be coming from. “I think what she’s getting at is there weren’t any signs that he would’ve become a wannabe fascist dictator because no one expected he’d ever be elected president,” one Redditor pointed out. Someone else said, “I would imagine at the time he probably seemed no different than all the other rich a–holes. Especially tv personalities.”
Rinna actually had worse things to say about Trump’s kids.
What’s interesting is that although Trump didn’t seem “gross” to her, his sons did. “The sons Don Jr. and Eric were just as gross as they are now,” Rinna claimed. She also had pretty harsh things to say about Melania and Ivanka, calling them “robots” and “total Stepford Wives.”
