A story published by the Associated Press yesterday sounds all too familiar. The piece quotes former contestants and employees of Donald Trump’s NBC show The Apprentice on how he treated women on set. Some of those interviewed recall Trump commenting on the bodies of female contestants and crew members, assessing their breast size, and stating which ones he’d like to sleep with.
One former crew member recalled an exchange in the show’s “boardroom” in which Trump asked male contestants whether they would sleep with a particular female contestant before stating that he would do so.
The woman he was referring to, meanwhile, “[was] shrinking in her seat.”
The Trump campaign issued a general denial of the story’s claims—and it should be noted that some of those interviewed by the AP said Trump was professional or they considered his comments complimentary or “playful banter.” NBC steered questions to the show’s executive producer, whose PR firm didn’t respond to requests seeking comment.
Nevertheless, the allegations against Trump are reminiscent of those made against former Fox News chairman and CEO Roger Ailes (reportedly now a Trump campaign advisor who’s also maintained his innocence) in that they illustrate the kind of culture that can develop when sexist attitudes—particularly those held by powerful male bosses—go unchecked.
@clairezillman
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EUROPE/MIDDLE EAST/AFRICA
| Can't catch a break |
| The jewel heist in which robbers held Kim Kardashian at gunpoint and locked her in her Paris hotel bathroom has again put the spotlight on mayor Anne Hidalgo, who's led the city through the terrorist attacks in January and November of last year and has seen foreign tourism drop on her watch. "[Kardashian] has my support and will always be welcome here in Paris," Hidalgo said yesterday. |
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| Protests in Poland | | Women in Poland went on strike yesterday to oppose a proposal that would ban abortion outright and jail women who get the procedure. The demonstration pits pro-choice women against right-wing PM Beata Szydlo, a devout Catholic and daughter of a miner, who backs the legislation. | | Fortune |
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THE AMERICAS
| A winner, no matter what | | Donald Trump's campaign manager Kellyanne Conway has raked in the cash this election cycle thanks to the $1.9 million in fees her small polling firm has collected from political campaign committees. But some Republicans question whether her lucrative portfolio syncs with Trump's anti-big-money message. | | Politico |
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| A higher bar | | Investor Aileen Lee says women in tech are held to tougher standards than men. Male investors get credit for simply being fun to hang out with or for not rocking the boat, while women are judged by more substantive measures, like their domain expertise and professional networks. | | Recode |
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| Backpedaling | | Kelly Ayotte, a U.S. senator from New Hampshire who's running for reelection, came under fire last night after saying her party's presidential nominee Donald Trump is a good role model for kids. Ayotte, who hasn't officially endorsed Trump, later said neither candidate is a good example, but that didn't quiet her Twitter critics. | | New York Times |
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ASIA-PACIFIC
| Robots, baby! | | Automaker Toyota has introduced a palm-sized robot named Kirobo Mini that's designed to tug at women's maternal instincts in Japan, where plummeting birth rates are contributing to an unprecedented population contraction. | | Fortune |
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| Desperate Indian housewives | | The visa system for highly-skilled workers in the United States is turning some well-educated Indian women into servile spouses. H-1B visas—70% of which go to Indians—allow recipients' spouses (mostly women) to emigrate to the U.S. but prohibits them from working or starting a business. | | Quartz |
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| Scrub-a-dub-dub? | | A Bangkok-based model named Palm was so fed up with the unrepaired roads in her neighborhood that she protested their state by bathing in the offending potholes, which she says are causing accidents. Women throughout Thailand are now mimicking her approach. | | BBC |
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IN BRIEF
| This little girl perfectly explains why gender-specific kids' clothing is awful | | Quartz |
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| A first look at LEGO's new Super Hero Girls collection | | Time |
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| This new comic book shows the resilience of India's acid attack survivors | | Mashable |
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| Brands are forcing ad agencies to hire more women and minorities | | New York Times |
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PARTING WORDS
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| --Nahnatchka Khan, executive producer of Fresh Off The Boat on getting her start. |
