The unending gift of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential bid had many wondering if the billionaire’s Celebrity Apprentice had come to an end, and NBC has at last made the split official. Following Trump’s racist remarks causing a schism from Univision, NBC has completely severed any and all ties to Trump.

So reads the network’s official statement on dumping Trump, with a caveat that The Apprentice franchise would continue on without him:


Though the writing had seemed more or less on the wall for The Apprentice with Trump’s announcement of a presidential bid, that same speech also decried the country’s need for a harsher relationship with Mexico, denouncing its immigrants as criminals and rapists. Univision responded by refusing to air Trump’s Miss USA pageant, to which the onion-loafed entrepreneur maturely forbade any Univision employees from setting foot on his Trump Doral Miami golf course.

It seems likely NBC will find a new master for The Apprentice, but does NBC’s decision have any potential to backfire?