This week marked a brand new chapter of the rift between World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Annie Duke and comedian Joan Rivers on Celebrity Apprentice. The two hour show, which airs on NBC at 9:00pm ET on Sunday nights, was highlighted by Rivers comparing Duke to Hitler.
Last week marked the first part of a task that challenged the teams to raise money for charity by auctioning off jewelry from Ivanka Trump’s line. Whichever team made the most profit would win. Duke served as Project Manager of her team, Athena, during the task. The opposition, Kotu, pooled the team’s money together in order to elicit a massive bid for one item. The rift between Duke and Rivers was initiated when the popular female poker player would not blame Playboy Playmate Brande Roderick for the team’s loss last week. Instead, Duke fingered R&B singer Brian McKnight, who was given the boot for being lackadaisical as Project Manager.
Professional golfer Natalie Gulbis called Duke’s Ultimate Bet colleague Phil Hellmuth to fundraise against her. In response, Hellmuth notified Duke of her opposition’s plans. Hellmuth commented, “Natalie called me and she wants to talk to me in a few hours, but you’re my girl.” Duke then stated to NBC cameras, “When I found out that a friend facilitated someone getting in touch with people to try to fundraise against me, you can imagine I was not happy.” Duke called the mystery middleman and lambasted him, stating, “Why the f— would you do what you did? You were f—— played. I suggest you call [Natalie] and tell her never to lie to you again.”
The phone conversation played out in front of Joan Rivers and country music singer Clint Black, prompting the former to retort, “The venom that came out – This is a bad, bad, bad person.” The younger Rivers questioned if Duke was simply upset that her opposition was being creative in calling Hellmuth: “If Annie had thought of [the idea], it would have just been brilliant, but because someone got her, it sent her around the bend.” Hellmuth was a noticeable no-show to the live fashion show and auction.
Showing up to New York City on Duke’s behalf were Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian (who is also an Ultimate Bet personality), Perry Friedman, and Full Tilt Poker pro Andy Bloch. The first item auctioned off was sold to the former MIT Blackjack Team member for $25,000. The second item brought in $52,000 as a result of a bid by Ian. West Coast Choppers CEO Jesse James, who was on Duke’s team, commented about his Project Manager: “Once Annie knew where the money was, she went right after it.” The third item auctioned off by Duke’s team saw Roderick model a piece of jewelry that went to a donor for $50,000. Roderick commented, “Annie was a great auctioneer. She really knows how to take money from people, but that’s what she does for a living.”
Kotu’s strategy of pooling the team’s money together to turn a large profit on one item ultimately backfired. The first piece of jewelry went unsold, while the second went for just $12,000. The elder Rivers then intervened, sharing auctioning duties with Black, which helped generate larger bids. The third item auctioned off by Kotu fetched a bid of $83,500, the largest single amount raised. On the model donning item number four, Rivers joked, “Valerie is bulimic.”
In the boardroom, Duke and the Rivers family teed off on each other. On Kotu’s strategy, Duke commented, “I think it was disrespectful to Ivanka to not make sure that every piece got sold. It’s about being respectful to the charity. It’s about being respectful to the task. It’s about being respectful to Ivanka.” Joan Rivers did not take Duke’s criticism likely, firing back, “You’re a despicable human being. You’re a perfect poker player. You’d spit on the ground and drown your own mother in it… You’re not that smart. Your ego is so beyond where you are.”
After then comparing Duke to Hitler, the Poker News Daily guest columnist explained, “I’m the one who, when I call [poker players] and tell them to get on a plane at 6:00am to come help me, they do.” In the end, Duke’s fundraising efforts led Athena to a significant margin of victory, profiting $153,000 in comparison to Kotu’s $92,000. The win meant that Duke’s charity, Refugees International, received $245,000, the largest paycheck in Celebrity Apprentice history. To date, the show has raised over $700,000 for the contestants’ beneficiaries.
Duke took a side interview with NBC cameras as an opportunity to defend herself against Rivers’ attacks. She explained, “To out of the blue come up with the things Joan said – I’m nutty and I’m Hitler – I think she’s demonstrating the qualities she accused me of. This woman is completely f—— dead to me.” Rivers cried in the boardroom when prodded by show host Donald Trump as to who should be fired, but Gulbis took the fall for her lack of fundraising as well as picking jewelry that was not visible on the runway.
The second task of the Sunday night show asked teams to devise a new frozen food and marketing campaign for Schwan’s Live Smart line. Athena selected James to be its Project Manager, while Kotu saw Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker step up. Duke immediately suggested turkey meatballs and gluten-free pasta as a potential item to sell. Researching products online, she claimed, “The Italian style meatballs are one of their best-sellers and they don’t offer that on the low-fat menu.” Melissa Rivers once again attacked her teammate, telling NBC, “Annie mode is that she’s going to get her way come hell or high water. Her giving up on an idea is impossible.”
Duke and Roderick headed to the kitchen to work on creating several dishes in hopes of James picking one later. In the kitchen, Duke boasted, “I’m the total woman. I can cook, I raise my children, and I give a good —-job.” Walker and Black, meanwhile, devised a soy ginger chicken dish, which the elder Rivers felt was too salty. She suggested adding orange juice to spice up the flavor, creating the final product.
When asked by Trump in the boardroom about James’ leadership, Duke responded, “I think Jesse did well in some cases and not so well in others. I think he was relatively impervious to some suggestions.” Duke felt that she and Roderick were locked out of the marketing side of the task, which fell on the shoulders of James and Melissa Rivers. James finally settled on the turkey meatball concept and, in the end, Schwan’s executives liked Athena’s dish better, sending Kotu to the boardroom once again. This time around, Walker was fired from Celebrity Apprentice for coming up with the idea for the chicken-based dish as well as a dessert that could not be properly packaged.
Next week features more of the spat between the Rivers family and Duke. The preview shows the elder Rivers calling Duke “white trash.” The show airs at 9:00pm ET on NBC. Six contestants remain.