Vivica A. Fox on Ivanka Trump’s ‘Insulting’ Comment: ‘She Thought She Was Complimenting Us!’

Yahoo.com, By George Back·PRODUCER YAHOO ENTERTAINMENT, Posted May 10th 2021

On Thursday’s For Real: The Story of Reality TV, Vivica A. Fox recalled an offensive exchange with Ivanka Trump during her time on Celebrity Apprentice. During a board meeting, Trump complimented Fox and Keisha Knight Pulliam for a presentation they did, saying “You’re certainly an articulate group.”

“I’ll never forget that when I did Celebrity Apprentice, and Ivanka Trump, she said, ‘Wow, you speak very well.’” Fox told host Andy Cohen. “I hate to say it, I don’t think she knew at the time that she was insulting us. I really think that she thought she was complimenting us.”

Ivanka seems a bit surprised to hear black women articulate their words & speak proper English! Honey we are educated too! #CelebApprentice

The incident, which aired in 2015, was noticed by several viewers who took to Twitter to complain about Trump’s veiled insult. One person tweeted, “Very offensive! How should they sound?”

Despite the condescending moment, Fox was extremely grateful for her time on the show. “Reality has been wonderful to me, to be honest with you,” Fox said. “It’s allowed me to reinvent myself and go from young ingénue to prove to everyone that I was a good businesswoman. That’s where Celebrity Apprentice came into.”