By Robyn Collins
The year was 2013, the show was “All-Star Celebrity Apprentice.”
Lil Jon was a contestant on the 13th season of the show. For one challenge, the rapper decided to purchase a patriotic Uncle Sam costume to promote hair-care products. Republican nominee Donald Trump began to refer to Lil Jon as “Uncle Tom” instead of Uncle Sam, according to The Daily Beast.
One “Apprentice” staffer recalled Trump saying at least twice, “Look, he’s Uncle Tom!”
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“We kept trying to explain to [Trump] that that’s not a word you can use, that it’s offensive,” another “Apprentice” employee said. “One of the executive producers had to call him up directly to [plead with] him not to say it, and Trump was like, ‘No, that’s a saying, it’s Uncle Tom.’
In response to the reports, Lil Jon posted his a statement on Twitter. Although, the “Turn Down For What” artist reports that Trump stopped saying the slur, he also clarifies that his views do not align with the candidate’s.
“I can’t say if he knew what he was actually saying or not, but he did stop using that term once we explained [its] offensiveness,” Lil Jon writes. “I also want to be clear that I don’t agree with many of the statements Mr. Trump has said during his current run for President.”
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LILJON (@LilJon) October 15, 2016
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