Keshia Knight Pulliam, who played Rudy Huxtable on “The Cosby Show,” was eliminated from “Celebrity Apprentice” on Sunday night because she did not reach out to Bill Cosby for assistance in raising funds for charity.
“I have not talked to Bill Cosby on the phone in I don’t know how long,” she said to Donald Trump in the boardroom following the group’s task. “For me to pick up the phone having not talked to you for five years, except for when we run into each other for a Cosby event, I feel that’s not my place to do.”
While Trump called Pulliam an “amazing person,” he cited her reticence to contact Cosby as a fatal business flaw. “You didn’t make one call that I really believe that if you’d called that gentleman he would have helped you, even if you hadn’t spoken to him in years,” he said.
As Trump noted on Twitter, the episode was filmed before the recent resurgence of sexual assault allegations against Cosby.
This show was taped just before the terrible Bill Cosby revelations came to light.She still should have asked him for money-goes to charity.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2015
The Huffington Post contacted representatives for Trump and Pulliam for further comment. This post will be updated if and when a response is received.