Trump Wanted O.J. Simpson On 'The Apprentice'

Donald Trump has been enshrouded in controversy following the leak of a hot mic tape from 2005 in which he speaks about groping women without consent. And as more of Trump's comments from the past are unearthed, the controversy only grows. It turns out Trump made shocking on-air comments about O.J. Simpson and Simpson's ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson in 2008, and that he even wanted Simpson to appear on the Celebrity Apprentice.

In 1995, Simpson was acquitted of two counts of murder, one involving his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson. The verdict was incredibly controversial at the time, and remains so even today. Simpson has been in prison since 2008, but for charges including armed robbery and kidnapping.

In a July 2008 interview with Howard Stern, Trump explained why he'd like to have Simpson star in The Apprentice. His explanation hinged entirely on how many viewers Simpson's appearance would draw. "If you come up with a cure for cancer, and if you put it on, and if it doesn't get ratings, they will not broadcast it," Trump told the radio host. "...Now I know this: If I put O.J. on: huge ratings." Trump said he hadn't spoken to Simpson in years, but at the same time was convinced Simpson would have agreed to appear on The Apprentice.

After Trump's interview with Stern, NBC quickly released a statement saying "NBC representatives have never considered O.J. Simpson for the next season of The Apprentice, nor will."

If you think that was the end of the controversy surrounding Trump and Simpson, think again. The Republican presidential candidate has discussed the topic of Simpson on Stern's radio show multiple times, and both Simpson and Stern attended Trump's second wedding to Marla Maples in 1993, CNN reported.

In 2004, Trump told Stern about a time he saw Simpson and Brown Simpson at a Los Angeles restaurant. Trump described Brown Simpson as "rough." When Simpson came over to Trump's table, where he was dining with "very important people, big bankers," Brown Simpson began yelling at him to come back to their table, Trump said.

"So, he decided obviously to kill her," Trump joked to Stern while laughing. (Of course, O.J. was ultimately acquitted of the murder of Brown and Ron Goldman.)

"She came over and she really embarrassed him," Trump said. "She was screaming at him. She didn't care, and that was before The Apprentice, so she didn't give a damn about me. Now she'd be kissing my ass. Now I'm the biggest star on television."

When Stern asked Trump if he would ever kill one of his ex-wives, Trump laughed. "Uh, I could think about it," he said.

Trump's statements are chilling; it's almost as if he is suggesting Brown Simpson's actions contributed to her death. It's true that Simpson was acquitted of his wife's murder, but Simpson had a history of spousal abuse; in 1989 he beat Brown Simpson so hard she had to go to the hospital, according to police reports. Simpson pleaded no contest to spousal battery charges, but avoided jail time, according to the Los Angeles Times. After the spousal abuse case was closed, Brown Simpson "repeatedly" told a victims' advocate she feared for her life, a domestic violence coordinator for the city attorney's office claimed to the Los Angeles Times.

In the United States, at least one-third of all female homicide victims are killed by male intimate partners, according to the Center for American Progress. This makes the issue of women being beaten and/or killed by their partners a very real possibility. Brown Simpson's abuse prior to her murder is no laughing matter. It's disturbing that Trump felt comfortable with the idea of having a known abuser on his show, so much so that he suggested it himself. Along with that, Trump somehow felt that joking about possibly killing his ex-wives on the radio was also appropriate behavior. News flash, Donald: it's never appropriate to joke about killing your ex-wives.

To add to the creepiness, Trump supporters have been photographed wearing "I Wish Hillary Had Married OJ" shirts.