Vivica A. Fox recently spoke out about the time Ivanka Trump made some “insulting” remarks towards her and Keisha Knight Pulliam on Celebrity Apprentice. During E!’s For Real: The Story of Reality TV, Fox spoke candidly with host Andy Cohen, recalling with Trump told the two actresses, “You’re certainly an articulate group.” She went on to elaborate, and explain that she isn’t sure Trump even realized how offensive her comments were.
“I’ll never forget that when I did Celebrity Apprentice and Ivanka Trump, she said, ‘Wow, you speak very well.’” Fox shared. “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.” Fox later went on to say that, in spite of Trump’s comments, she still feels a great sense of pride over 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.”
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The Celebrity Apprentice episode in question was not really that long ago, airing back in 2015. At the time, many viewers took notice, like Yahoo! pointed out, and expressed their frustration with Trump’s words on Twitter. “Ivanka seems a bit surprised to hear black women articulate their words & speak proper English,” one person exclaimed. “Honey we are educated too!” Another user added, “Really! [Ivanka Trump] says to Keisha and Vivica, ‘You’re so articulate’ on [Celebrity Apprentice]. Very offensive! How should they sound?”
@IvankaTrump, disappointed that you seemed surprised during premiere that Keshia and Vivica were “articulate.” Did you expect less?
— BrownBeauty (@HiriamB) January 5, 2015
Another show that Fox has a great affinity for is Young and the Restless, one of the first big Hollywood jobs she snagged. “I have so much love for soap operas,” Fox previously told PopCulture exclusively. “It’s where I got my start. Soap operas [have] some of the most underrated actors, in my opinion.”
“I learned everything. I learned how to cry, hit my mark, do a hair toss, be sexy, learn my lines to be able to do five shows a week. To learn to break down the script, just like that, from being on a soap,” Fox added, then expressing she would return to the show in a heartbeat. “So if Young and the Restless ask for Stephanie to come back and do a cameo or do a short little stint, I would welcome it. Absolutely.”
