The rumor mill was set ablaze on September 16, 2018, when comedian Tom Arnold revealed on his Twitter account that he had allegedly gotten attacked by Mark Burnett at a pre-Emmy Award fundraiser.
Why the heck would Burnett — the man behind top-rated shows like The Voice, Survivor, Shark Tank, and The Apprentice — come to fisticuffs with Arnold of all people? What could these two — umm, seasoned — Hollywood veterans really be arguing about? Well, it all came down to tapes. #TrumpTapes to be exact. But, we’ll get into that in a bit.
This feud is equal parts wacky, bizarre, salacious, and absolutely perfect for tabloid fodder. And, guess what? We have all the deets on the real reason they went head-to-head, which resulted in their celebrity friends being forced to take sides in this very public battle.
If you thought the Nicki Minaj and Cardi B showdown was epic, just wait until you get a load of the truth behind Tom Arnold and Mark Burnett’s feud.
It all started with Donald Trump
Tom Arnold has been on a personal crusade to uncover the infamous “Trump Tapes” — recordings and outtakes of President Donald Trump pre-White House, where he allegedly said the “n-word” and made demeaning comments about women during his time as host of NBC’s The Apprentice — a show that Burnett produced.
After former The Apprentice contestant and former employee of Trump’s White House administration Omarosa Manigault Newman claimed in her book, Unhinged (via NBC News), that the president had indeed said the “n-word” several times on the set of the reality show, it made Arnold even more hungry to uncover the truth. It also prompted Trump to tweet a denial. “@MarkBurnettTV called to say that there are NO TAPES of The Apprentice where I used such a terrible and disgusting word as attributed by Wacky and Deranged Omarosa. I don’t have that word in my vocabulary, and never have. She made it up,” he wrote, in part.
Burnett’s lawyer also went on the record to USA Today, stating the tapes were confidential and now owned by entertainment giant MGM — a company Burnett was named chairman of back in June 2018.
Let’s recap: Arnold believes Burnett has access to damaging recordings of Trump that could tarnish his presidency, and Arnold wants those tapes. Bad.
Choking, a torn shirt, and a missing gold chain…allegedly
All was well in the celebsphere until Arnold posted a shocking tweet in the dead of night on September 16, 2018. “Mark Burnett just went apes**t & choked me at this huge Emmy party then he ran away with his torn Pink shirt & missing gold chain. I’m waiting for LAPD,” he tweeted. Come again?!
The Twitterverse assumed it was all one big joke. But the details about what went down at the Evening Before Emmy party — a fundraiser for the Motion Picture Television Fund — began to trickle in through a series of haphazardly crafted tweets that painted a vivid picture.
Arnold revealed that even Burnett’s wife, actress Roma Downey, was in the midst of the rumble! “Roma knocked [film director] Bryan Fogel’s phone out of his hand after Mark Burnett chocked [sic] me. Bryan came with me. He won the Oscar this year for his amazing documentary Icarus. He has tape,” Arnold tweeted.
Hold up. So, we went from #TrumpTapes to #BryanTapes. Oy vey. Make. It. Stop.
Now, if all of this doesn’t sound like the plot line for a made-for-TV movie, just wait, it gets even crazier…
(Excerpt) Read More at: NickiSwift.com