Tonight two new episodes of The Celebrity Apprentice airs on NBC. Read a live recap of the episodes here.
Last night Keshia Knight Pulliam was fired for being a weak project manager and not raising enough money. She was also criticized for not calling Bill Cosby for a donation. Who will be fired tonight?
Kate and Jamie join the other contestants after Keshia was fired. Kate is upset with Brandi calling Kate lazy, saying it’s a word she has never been called before. Brandi’s stands by her comment and thinks Kate is simply not built to be a businesswoman.
The next day, the contestants learn their task. They must create a commercial for the technology company Neat. Kevin and Kate are chosen as the two project managers. Also, Kenya is not present due to a prior commitment, but will return by the end of the task. George and Don Jr. will be Mr. Trump’s advisers for this task.
Kevin gets his team motivated right away and wants to make sure everyone will do what they are supposed to do. However, Team Vortex are split in two vans at the moment, and Geraldo notes how Kevin has the younger guys and the older guys divided. He’s annoyed how he wants only the younger guys to be a part of the creative process. However, he gets on the phone with Kevin to give his idea of a logo: “Neat. Sweet.” Kevin does not agree, but Sig notes in a confessional that Geraldo may have done that just to annoy Kevin.
Later the representatives of Neat talk to both teams to make sure their brand is being represented correctly. However, Geraldo gets on the phone during the meeting and is obnoxiously loud. Ian notes in a confessional how this may have been Geraldo’s attempt to undermine Kevin.
At Team Infinity, they are coming up with the concept for the commercial. Shawn comes up with a good idea, but Kate is still confused. Leeza notes how everyone is coming up with an idea except for Kate, and she wishes Kate would just make a decision so they can finally get started. But they do ultimately go with Shawn’s idea of showcasing a disheveled woman who’s not very capable with technology, but her life is made easier with Neat. Nonetheless, the women are still unhappy with Kate as the project manager, especially Brandi. She’s even annoyed how Kate keeps asking her for approval, despite Kate being the project manager on this task. Kate then criticizes Brandi for being frustrated. During all this, Shawn praises Leeza for stepping up and doing a great job directing the commercial.
Back at Team Vortex, Kevin delegates task to his team members. Despite reservations, he allows Geraldo to write the script. Gilbert is chosen to act in the commercial. Geraldo thinks he would be great person to do the voice over part of the commercial, but is not chosen. Geraldo feels Kevin, Ian, and Lorenzo are pushing him away from the creative process. This leads to a tense moment between Kevin and Geraldo. Kevin snaps at Geraldo for interupting a conversation, and Geraldo snaps back and throws a fit. Lorenzo tries to calm him down, but Geraldo brushes him aside. Lorenzo is annoyed with Geraldo’s behavior and calls him egotistical.
Later in the day, Team Vortex gets to work on editing their commercial. While watching it, Geraldo suggests adding a graphic of the Neat logo to the commercial. Kevin does not think one is needed, and Geraldo is once again annoyed with Kevin rejecting his ideas. Team Infinity edits their commercial too, and Leeza admits they would have no commercial if she had not stepped up.
It’s now presentation time. Team Inifinity goes first, followed by Team Vortex. Both commercials are shown, and Team Infinity’s commercial is clearly the better one. The editing of Team Vortex’s commercial seemed too choppy, whereas Team Infinity’s flowed better and looked like a real commercial. However, it is up to the executives of Neat to decide the winning team.
After the commercial break, the contestants gather in the boardroom. Right away Mr. Trump asks Geraldo his thoughts about Kevin. He criticizes Kevin for only having Ian and Lorenzo as his confidants. Kevin stands by his decision of having those two as “the nucleus” of this task since he believes they have the most experience in front of and behind the camera. Mr. Trump then asks Kate is she thinks they won. She is unsure, and Mr. Trump calls her out on her doubt. Mr. Trump asks who should be fired if Team Infinity loses, and Kate names Brandi for being too panicky. Brandi defends this by saying they had no clear direction.
It’s time to find out the winner. Don Jr. remarks how the commercial did a great job showcasing where the Neat products are now, but criticizes them for marketing only to women who struggle with technology. George then tells Team Vortex that they marketed to the right demographic, but the commercial didn’t go far enough and the logo was absent too.
Therefore, Team Infinity wins! Kate wins money for her charity and can go back to the hotel suite with the rest of her team. Team Vortex must stay behind, and someone will be fired.
Mr. Trump asks Kevin what happened. He admits that they underutilized all of Neat’s services and blames that on Geraldo. Geraldo complains how Kevin excluded him from multiple aspects of the task. Kevin says Geraldo only wanted to be heard and to be right. Mr. Trump asks Ian who should be fired and he says it should be Geraldo for slowing down the team. Terrell says that he can’t name a particular person, but the responsibility starts with the project manager. Mr. Trump admits that the project manager does have a lot of responsibility.
Mr. Trump asks Kevin who he will bring back to the boardroom. He predictably chooses Geraldo, but surprisingly picks Ian too. Kevin admits that he is only bringing Ian back since he will support him in going against Geraldo. The women watching from the hotel suite are baffled by Kevin’s decision and think it will backfire on him.
The three men reenter the boardroom, and Kevin blames the loss on the script that was written by Geraldo. Mr. Trump questions Kevin on why he didn’t bring back Lorenzo, who directed the commercial. Ian admits he is not happy with being brought back, but still believes Geraldo should be fired. Kevin and Ian are now both ganging up on Geraldo and saying his ideas were bad. Geraldo defends himself saying that he was excluded so much and the commercial would have been better if he had been more involved. Since Geraldo says he was so ignored and was not allowed to participate, he can’t be blamed for the loss. Kevin still believes that Geraldo caused the team to lose momentum. Mr. Trump is frustrated with Ian not being upset with Kevin bringing him back to the boardroom. He is really trying to get Ian angry with Kevin’s decision. However, Ian still supports Kevin and says that Geraldo should be fired. However, Mr. Trump is too angry with Kevin’s decision on who he brought back to the boardroom. Mr. Trump fires Kevin Jonas.
At the hotel suite, the teams talk about the task. Lorenzo is disappointed Geraldo survived and Ian calls out Geraldo for his temper tantrums. Ian says in a confessional he’s in it for the long haul and Geraldo should watch out for him.
Now it’s time for the next task. The teams must work for Luvo (a food company) and highlight their products and deliver a taste-testing presentation that showcases the meals in a positive manner. They will be judged on brand messaging and overall presentation. Ivanka and Eric will be Mr. Trump’s advisers for this week. The two project managers will be Vivica and Terrell.
Team Infinity gets to work with Vivica leading her team effectively. Their approach is to create different vignettes and present the food in an entertaining way. Over at Team Vortex, Geraldo once again steamrolls everyone with his ideas while they are brainstorming.
The teams are now tasting the food to decide which ones to have on their menu and highlight in their presentation. The teams are working without too much trouble. When Team Vortex are working on their pitch, Gilbert is being too much of a comedian again and just wants to improvise. Ian notes how annoying he can be. At Team Infinity, Shawn and Kate are out picking up items, and Vivica gets a bit unsettled with how much time they are taking. They still need to work on putting together their presentation. Vivica was also bothered by Shawn admitting to not feeling well at the beginning of the task.
Back at Team Vortex, Terrell wants them to rehearse their presentation. Gilbert felt pressured to talk about his kids by Geraldo, even though his kids have never tried the Luvo products. Lorenzo remarks that they’re logo is weak and too long, which Geraldo came up with. However, he still places the blame on Terrell since he’s the project manager and signed off on it. Meanwhile, Shawn and Kate finally rejoin their team after shopping for supplies. Team Infinity are all scrambling to get everything in order.
It’s presentation time. Team Vortex goes first and their presentation is going smoothly. However, the presentation hits a rough patch when Gilbert says his part. He improvises and some of his comments may have been a bit too edgy. Ian notes that Gilbert bombed in the presentation. But like Lorenzo, he will place the blame on Terrell since he’s the project manager. Team Infinity gets started on their presentation next. Their logo is “Luv yourself one bite at a time.” Vivica gets worried about a big delay between entrees, and the team members get stressed out about it. Kenya says Jamie cannot be allowed to serve the food since she wasn’t dressed up, which annoys Jamie. Jamie calls Kenya out in the kitchen for being rude to her.
Now it’s time for the contestants to gather in the boardroom. Mr. Trump asks Vivica who she would replace on her team, and she calls out Shawn. She would get rid of Shawn since she believes Shawn does not want to be there. Shawn stands up for herself and says that she wasn’t feeling well that day. Kate stands up for Shawn too and says that every prop that was chosen for the presentation was thanks to them. In addition, Jamie brings up Kenya’s rude comment to her. Kenya says that she already talked to Jamie about that when it happened and that Jamie simply does not want to accept her apology.
But which team won? Eric informs the women that the executives were happy with their presentation, but thought the actual serving of the food was weak. Ivanka tells the men that they handled the serving of the food better and gave everyone an ample enough of time to enjoy the food, but the logo was too long, they did not highlight a healthy lifestyle effectively enough, and Gilbert’s humor was not appropriate. Therefore, Team Infinity wins! Vivica wins money for her charity and can go to the hotel suite with her team. During the celebration, Shawn asks Vivica why she called her out in the boardroom. It leads to a heated confrontation, but it is cut short so they can watch the live feed of the men in the boardroom.
Mr. Trump asks Terrell what happened. Terrell says that they just simply lost. Mr. Trump asks Gilbert if he is to blame why they lost. Gilbert says that he’s gotten in trouble with his humor before, but he still stands by his performance in the presentation. Next Mr. Trump asks Ian his thoughts on the logo. Ian calls it mediocre and says the blame falls on Geraldo and Terrell. Ivanka asks what’s worse – Gilbert’s humor or the weak logo. They lost for both. Sig says that the person who should be fired should be what bothered the executives more. Mr. Trump asks Terrell who should be brought back in the boardroom, and he chooses Gilbert and Geraldo.
Terrell says he’s happy for being part of the show, but still really wants to stay. He mentions how Gilbert refused to write a planned speech and chose to improvise instead. Mr. Trump asks Geraldo how much he wants to stay, and Geraldo says he is a competitive person despite always being underrated. He does not want to go home either. However, when Gilbert is asked how much he wants to stay, he’s not as enthusiastic about staying as the other two. Gilbert says he’d like to stay, but if it’s time to go he’ll be fine with it. Since he’s not as passionate about staying on the show, Mr. Trump fires Gilbert Gottfried.
Thanks for reading, and come back next week for another recap of two new episodes of The Celebrity Apprentice!
