Trump Courts Ageist Claims, Rosie Back on Attack
Forget Rosie O'Donnell. Donald Trump has his hair full with a new foe—one who's much less famous but much more litigious.
A 49-year-old New Hampshire man is making a federal case out of his dispute with the Apprentice host, claiming to be denied a shot at reality-show glory after being deemed too old by Trump and show producers.
Joseph Hewett filed the age discrimination suit in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts on Thursday, in which he says he was given the casting brush-off after a preliminary interview in 2005 simply because he was out of the show's demographic range.
Hewett, who works as a technology manager, is also seeking to get his complaint class-action status, allowing thousands of fellow fortysomething applicants who have been passed over for the reality show the chance to cash in.
For the show's sixth, Los Angeles-based season, which premiered Sunday night on NBC, more than 18,000 applicants vied for the 18 contestant slots. The ages of the would-be Trump lackeys range from 24 to 37.
Aside from Trump, Hewett's suit names several of Trump's companies as plaintiffs, along with Apprentice creator and executive producer Mark Burnett.
Trump, himself a hearty 60 years of age, has so far remained mum on the legal action, but this isn't the first time his show has come under attack over its casting.
In February 2005, aspiring Apprentice contestant James Schottel, a quadriplegic lawyer, filed a federal lawsuit claiming Trump & Co. violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by discriminating against him and other disabled individuals who wanted to try out for the show.
Schottel alleged that wording in the show's application, cautioning would-be contestants to be "in excellent physical and mental health," effectively ruled out disabled applicants. The suit was settled the following month with no payout and no admission of wrongdoing, simply with a reworded application.
Now we'll just have to see if the newest lawsuit gets Trump's mind—and sound bites—off his other nemesis du jour, O'Donnell.
The Donald has been engaged in an increasingly uncivil war of words with the View host since late December, and it shows no signs of slowing.
O'Donnell returned to her chat show after a weeklong vacation Monday morning and officially called off any semblance of a ceasefire.
"It's the way I look," she said. "He can't resist. I love when people say you're fat like you don't know...It's always the first comment of someone who disagrees with you if you happen to be on the plus side."
The feud kicked off last month when O'Donnell blasted the real-estate mogul as a hypocrite for acting as "moral compass" to Miss USA Tara Conner, who he announced would not lose her crown in the wake of reports that her behavior was slightly unbecoming for a titleholder of her stature. (Ironically, Trump has confirmed that he is entertaining an offer for Conner to pose in Playboy.)
"Boy, did I hit a nerve with that guy," O'Donnell said. "It was like Mount Vesuvius erupting."
Even View matron Barbara Walters joined the fray, denying claims made by Trump that she confided in him her regret at hiring O'Donnell.
"Let me say definitively," Walters said, "that everything he said I said about her is totally untrue."
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