My Final Celebrity Apprentice Blog
Well, I have spent the last couple of days trying to figure out what I was going to say about the finale. But it turns out that you all have said it so much better than I ever could through the outpouring of comments on this website. Pretty much every thought in my head has been said with amazing passion and eloquence by all of you and I would never try to top that. Thank you! The only thing I can really add to what you have already said is that I wish Trump had polled more of the contestants who had made it very deep in the competition, like Jesse, about who they would pick as the winner.
My biggest regret about the finale is that the show never actually showed my whole space during the charity auction. When Trump delivered the task to us I understood we were doing a high end auction to raise money for charity, in my case Refugees International. To that end, I integrated the charity into my decor so that about 60% of the decor was devoted to that. When my guests walked in the room not only did they have no doubt what charity they were donating too but they also could educate themselves about RI though the videos, pamphlets and posters around the room. This was a high priority for me in producing the event and I won the charity integration part of the challenge with practically no contest. I think they made the choice not to show the whole room because the show tried to paint me as the black hat in the competition. I regret that the wide shot of my space didn’t make the edit because I believe the images of refugees throughout the space would have been a powerful platform for RI and I think that was a huge lost opportunity for them.
With the help of Elaine Martyn and Ken Bacon from RI, I created these 3 by 5 foot double sided poster boards that hung from the ceiling in the room and they never really showed this on TV. I was really proud of those boards and happy to find out last week that Elaine and Ken had rescued them after the auction (the contestants were shooed out). When I went to the Italian Embassy in DC last week for the Refugees International 30th anniversary gala, those boards were hanging from the ceiling as part of the decor of the event! I was stunned and completely taken aback.
I also had the video of Darfuri refugees playing on many of the Kodak frames placed throughout the room. I am hoping that anyone who cares enough to read this blog will watch this video so you can see why I am so passionate about the refugee issue.
I also want to thank everyone who came out and donated over the course of the show. Erik Seidel, Shelly Maxwell, Scott Ian, Andy Bloch, Perry Friedman, Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, Ray Bitar, Beth Shak, John Hennigan, Nick Schulman, Erik Brooks, Rafe Furst, Kim Scheinberg, Mori Eskandani, Todd Rubenstein, John Moonves, Cliff Josephy, Mark Kron, Mike Murray, Tracy Scala and the inimitable Phil Hellmuth. (If I left anyone out I really apologize). Just as important as donations are the people who helped me out during the show to put the event together. Tony Luisi, Yshai Simkhai, Sara Csillag and Mark Birnbaum deserve a HUGE thank you for coming to the rescue when disaster struck.
I also want to thank the people who generously donated some incredible auction items for the finale so that my donors would have some cool stuff to buy: Matt Damon, Ray Romano, Brad Garrett, Hulk Hogan, Pamela Anderson, Perez Hilton, Thomas Lennon, Natalie Gulbis, Judith Ripka, Arik Kissling, Mark Birnbaum (again!), Sen. Al D’Amato, Rep. Robert Wexler and Herschel Walker. Auction items were a judging criteria that didn’t get discussed in the finale so these guys never got their due. Thank you!
My Apprentice experience was almost completely a positive one. During the course of the show I, with the help of the poker community, raised over $700K for amazing charities. I made some incredible friends, not just with some of the other contestants (Brande, Herschel, Jesse and Natalie) but also with some of the producers who worked tirelessly putting up with me for weeks on end! I think, most importantly though, my faith in the poker community, my second family, was completely affirmed. This community stepped up in such a huge and selfless and giving way. Poker players deserve the biggest shout out of all.
Donald trump redefines the word sleeze.
It has been about a week since the finale and I am still thinking about how much of a mistake Donald Trump made! I had to write a small note to let u know I have always been a fan but now a much bigger fan! You handled yourself with class. You should have won, I don’t care to watch another episode of CA.
the odds are you should have one. out of all the appretice shows i’ve watched, donald trump made a mistake on this one. either there was a compassion for joans new york charity, or he wanted to put you in your place. according to piers, 3 out of the five aspects of the tasks were given in favor of joan. i don’t believe it. annie, you should find out if in deed the favor was for joans silent auction that night.
Annie, it’s already been said, but you should have won. You played the best game. I don’t think anyone could have beat Joan. She got the old-lady-sympathy vote. Another thing I noticed that I thought was odd … it seemed that at nearly every Board Room, Donald would ask Joan who should be sent home. It seemed he favored her throughout the whole “competition”.
Hey Annie, congrats on doing so well on apprentice, I think you could have won if you had alittle more humility and alot less I I I, If you learn from this experience you will be a winner
Is Annie going to be going back to Poker or will she be doing more TV?
Annie did not win . . . Joan Rivers won so anything that anyone says on this blog will not make Annie the winner. I admit that Annie played a good game…but when it really mattered, on the last episode, Annie appeared shaken and not in control. Joan nailed it when she said Annie was two-faced. For all her drama, Joan Rivers got in Annie’s face and let her know how she felt about her. Annie was either too coward or calculating to do the same with Joan so she chose to do it behind her back. While that is good game playing it doesn’t exemplify the traits of a trustworthy person or anyone that I would want working on my team. Annie is a good game player but unfortunately for her life is more than about just playing games.
You’re brilliant, talented, and beautiful. I was rooting for you from the start. Joan should be ashamed of herself, what an ugly situation you had to endure. You’re a better person than I, I would have lost it. You’re too cool Annie!
Well Annie, its all been said before. You should have won, EASILY. You were the best player. You were most definately mugged off by Trump senior (I think Trump Jnr would have picked you). Oh and you were screwed over by my fellow countryman Peirs Morgan as you played the same game as him.
Everyone I know who watched this season in the UK cannot believe you lost and they are not happy about it.
Anyway chin up and enjoy the fallout, I’m glad I got the opportunity to become aware of you through this show and i’ll be following your career with interest from now on
ANNIE
I still say you need to make those shirts
“I am a POOOKA PLAYER…A POOOOOKA PLAYER”
And Hats too!
Piss that old dust bag off!
xox
S
Please continue to tell us all WHATS NEXT KID!
xox
S
Piers and Trace both voted for Joan, and she won three of the five criteria for the last challenge.
It’s Trump’s decision, and he made it. Now shut up and be the loser you are.
Unbelievable that two old fogeys like Rivers and Trump (he seemed completey clueless too) didn’t seem to realize that poker has become so big it is no longer this game associated with Mafia run casinos and criminals. It is gamed played by a demographic too numerous to classify and a the subject of numerous television programs. But Trump and Rivers are too old and too out of touch to realize how stupid they both sounded questioning the ethics of poker players.
Trump telling Annie “You’re not sure if they’re with the mafia” refering to poker players was ridiculous. Like Chris Fergueson, Andy Bloch, Howard Lederer, or Phil Hellmut are involved with the mafia.
How classless, lying, fake Joan and stuck in the mud Trump could view poker players in the manner that they did was unbelivevable. Glad the poker community showed up to make Joan and Donald eat their words. They donated more to charity than Joan and her so called classy, honorable friends.
Yeah, Annie is a “BIG” looser… welcome to our planet Tom, i hope you came in peace cuz you sure don’t came smart.
So, one more observation: Joan’s comment (“you’re a poker player”) made me laugh. Why would a poker player be farther down the evolutionary line than a comic? If she was a physician or a mathematician, perhaps she could denigrate someone. But, a comic? LOL!
.
I just looked up “trump” in the dictionary. “Trump” has always had positive connotations, which I always thought was incredibly fortunate for Trump’s lifelong public relations campaign. But “trump up” is something else entirely – to “trump up” is defined as “to devise fraudulently.” Perhaps his name isn’t really Donald Trump, but Donald Trumpup.
To “Just_Saying” – I completely agree – as soon as I saw Joan in her incredibly caustic and patronizing tone of voice scream “a pokah playah!” I thought “YOU, Joan Rivers, of ALL people, have GOT to be kidding me.” That was just one of the very many examples of how Joan Rivers thinks she can say just about anything and try to make it sound insulting. With that twisted face (I think she was trying to twist it, hard to tell with Joan Rivers) and that sickly tone of voice and her bent-over body posture, she could try to say just about anything in an insulting manner … “and you’re just a NOBEL PRIZE WINNAH dahling” … what a freak. Yet another example of how stupid she thinks you and I and the entire audience is, that she thinks we will actually buy that crap. What a jerk.
You were the only reason my wife and I watched Celeb Apprentice this year, Annie. You rock. Personally, I feel there was something that happened to determine the outcome long before the final challenge took place. Just for fun though, I would have chosen Melissa for my final team, given her a big hug, and told her to take the weekend off.
Annie, you have smarts but more to learn. I am hoping to see that process somewhere. There are some things you just could not get, but I think you will eventually. Joan can get away with more of that off name calling because she has been doing that for a long time in her comedian career. That was a card you did not have. You also had many problems leading. It was often about you. If you could have seen that, you would have won. I am glad your charity faired well from this. I hope to see more of you, and perhaps a little more wisdom.
Blog more!! And add a feed!
Annie,
Have met you a few times at the WSOPA sessions. Having experienced your “fiery” personality I knew you would get far and at the “Reserve” charity event Howard did at the Hard Rock I heard from a Pro in “code” that you were going to go far. I was shocked and worse yet bet my wife you were winning and now I’m stuck with chores I would rather not do.
It was a bag job plain and simple, you were never going to win and when they shut you up and down while letting Joan spew in the final it was obvious. If you were a movie star and not a poker player you might have had a shot. I wish Trump still was running his casinos in AC, it would be nice if players boycotted them although he does still own around 28% but they are bankrupt anyway.
On the other hand, a more worthy opponent was not who you went to the final with and this in itself was a producer and maybe a sponsor thing, Trump just does what he’s told at this point. If the network wants Joan to push the new show she has coming up or what ever other reason, your done. He does not have to work with these people like he has in the non-celebrity version. . How good would have the sweep ratings been if it were Jessie and Brandy? I would not have bothered to watch. You got great PR and maybe you can be one of the rare Poker People to parley that out of our world and into the mainstream. You’re smart and if Phil and Doyle can do it you certainly can. RI was the only real victim but then they got much more than Joan’s charity got anyway and the money going to either good cause was a win win. Anyone watching the show (other than a child that had a father that donked off their college fund), poker player or not, knew you did the best job at each stage and if you did not win the final challenge it was certainly because of Joan sabotaging the challenge. With the difference in what you raised it really was a no brainer. The script called for you to lose and you did based on the show results but in real life we all know you won. Look forward to seeing you at the WSOPA primer.
I am so glad that you didn’t win. I dislike you.
My wife and iwere shocked that you lost. NO ONE in that shows history has raised the money you did or play with such high standards and determination and NOT get personal after such hateful and evil personal attacks. No one in my business woeld keep their job the first time they said such things yet she stayed, even after quiting -got to be a pay off or something, makes no professional sense. Would he honestly keep someone like that in HIS business, NO WAY !!!!
Anyway, hold your head high and be the best!
Joan will never be more than a bitter, unhappy woman.
Thanks for giving RI such a boost. Love you.
Hey Annie – you’ll probably never read this – but I’ll type it anyway. I watched the last episode of the apprentice and was stunned and at the same time not surprised that he chose Joan Rivers. Let’s face it the old farts have to stick together! lol
Many aspects of the last challenge should have been thrown out! After all it was JOAN RIVERS who sabotaged YOUR event. After she insulted the event planner beyond repair and he withdrew from the show leaving you standing there scratching your head. At least you had REAL celebrites at your event not dressed up men pretending to be celebrities!! How creepy that she actually had someone there impersonating herself (JOAN) – ICK.
Annie – I play poker as well – I never really thought much of you and Phil Hellmuth – but after watching the apprentice my opinion about you has taken a turn. You are strong, beautiful, classy, and definately a much better person than JOAN RIVERS. Insulting you at every turn you took it in stride and NEVER said anything negative to her. I’m sure there was a continuing stream of insults you could have thrown at her – most from the plastic surgery freak she’s become. She makes a joke of it at every turn, probably because she knows she looks like she got caught in an elevator door!! Her daughter, Melissa, is beginning to look exactly like her. Is Melissa really her daughter – or a clone? I’m opting for clone or at least puppet.
Anyway, you’re a winner in my book both at poker and the apprentice. Donald Trump is a coward. You rock. Say hi to Howard – he rocks too – lol.
While I think RI is a worthwile organization I think you would have been better served if you picked an American organization. Take a look at last years winner Piers. He’s a Brit and had an American charity. Annie, for a poker player you should have followed “SUIT”.
I HAVE A QUESTION THAT may seem IGNORANT..Can anyone answer this?
How does a Billionaire file Bankruptcy on a property when he is still a BILLIONAIRE? Shouldn’t he have to give up more of his assets.
I think Trump should be referred to as Dump!
Ford, maybe you can enlighten me.
Dear Annie,
I haven’t read all the comments yet so this might already have been said but I’ll say it anyways.
Have you ever considered that Mr Trump made a deal with Joan Rivers, after she walked out of the show, that she would win if she came back and wouldn’t pursue a lawsuit against the show along with her daughter?
Just a thought,
You should have won!
Hildur Sif
What do you expect from someone who sells
glass beads for hard currency (in the good old tradition of this country) on QVC?
If someone would produce this T-shirt mentioned below:
I’M A POOOOKAH PLAYER, A POOOOOOOOOKAH PLAYER!
I would most certainly buy it, and wear it with
pride.
Annie,
All I can say in closing is that you have made us VERY PROUD of the way you have conducted yourself on this show. We love you VERY MUCH and wish you weren’t so darn busy with your schedule, and living so far away, for obvious reasons.
I thought I knew you. I had no clue. You are a person of honor and integrity and one helluva game player. If Donald made the wrong choice, then that’s HIS PROBLEM. Trying to sell Joan Rivers as a celebrity apprentice, I wish him all the luck in the world. She’s got A LONG way to go, in my view. A VERY long way to go.
All the best to you, with much love from us. Stay healthy. Without our health—we’re nothing.
Love,
Sam (& Liz too!)
Annie, I am still thinking about the finale, and I am upset enough that I decided to write you. Trump made a horrible business decision. Throughout the competition you epitomized hard work, profesionalism, intelligence and set an example for everyone. I cann’t believe that HORRIBLE Joan Rivers is somehow supposed to be a role model…when she should have been fired not just for her insane behavior but because she quit the show after her equally nasty daughter quit. Trump had no business allowing her to behave that way.
You are right, the fact that you have many friends who would do anything for you tells the world enough about you as a person. Joan Rivers clearly has no friends–and it’s no secret why. I have always disliked her and her ability to humiliate people. She is a toxic person.
You on the other hand set a wonderful example of how a woman can be intelligent, strong, and powerful while still being a mom, a great cook, and a wonderful person.
I have been a die-hard Apprentice fan for years but will never watch the show again after that travesty of a decision. Between what we saw on Sunday night and refusing to fire Miss California, Trump has shown he no longer has good judgment.
Wishing you the best.
After discussing it at work, it is cleard Mr. Trump is more concerned with covering a friend than being professional to Joan’s behavior, language and lack of respect of others. There has got to be more to the whole shame than we saw or know. Mr. Trump clearly has no regard to apperance. I dare one of our employees to exhibit 1/10th of that behavior, the police will be removing them!
I;d love to have you on our team!!!
Gary
Is funny how after the show Rivers was hawking her cheap costume jewelry on HSN/QVC ( I wouldn’t know…I don’t wear fake jewelry)and was lauding herself over and over….bleckkkkk. Yet Annie remained calm, cool and collected, prefering to wait until she had poignant to say about that fiasco.
Joan’s fanbase is a majority of lonely housewives who call HSN/QVC just to hear themselves on TV talking to a “Has Been”.And then suckered into buying that cheap crap she should be hawking on a street corner.
She said she spent 40 yrs in Vegas…then proceeds to insult the very people who made it possible for there to even BE a Vegas.
I have been a PROUD member of the poker community for many years now.Its apparent that when called upon by another PROUD member for help…they come running. Even the most insipid ( Hell-mouth) gave it his all.Impressive…by all means!
I’d like to take a moment to thank all the people who define you as you are today. Your family, your children, your teachers, your fellow poker players, your dogs , and finally all the poker players in those smokey backrooms where you got your start.
I know you’re not worried about this debacle, it is beneath you to.You have gained the respect of many non-poker players..people who didn’t even know who you were. Not to mention the millions of poker players who KNOW who you are…and what you stand for.
I was always taught ” Charity knows no borders”…both charities were worthy. But, I tend to lean towards people who are in the front lines of genocide,utter starvation, cruelty…than someone who has housing, resources,and live in a country where there are so MANY charities willing and able to help.
In closing…Trump is a moron of the first order. By supporting Rivers he has lost what little credibility he had left.
Rivers is a “Has Been”…her daughter a “Never Was”.
You followed what is my favourite expression “Never interrupt your enemy whilst they’re making a mistake”. Its a damn shame your “enemy” turned out to be more than one person..it became “enemies”..ie: Donald, Ivanka, DonaldJR..and Blaine Trump. Not a FAIR FIGHT!
I would sooner use the term BJ jokingly in front of my sons ( NO MATTER WHAT AGE THEY WERE) than viscously compare another human being to Hitler, (along with numerous other names in her diatribes).
You’ll do fine, Annie ( as you have already shown). Please consider the other poster’s idea for trademarking the Phrase ” You’re ah POKAAAH PLAYAAH….AH POKAAH PLAYAAH” but change it to “I’MAH POKAAH PLAYAAH..etc” and donate the proceeds to RI. Better yet…sell them at the televised championships this year. How funny would that be to see hundreds/thousands of players wearing those!
Sign me up for 6 of those shirts….
From a fellow PPA member ( and bloody well PROUD of it!)
I wish Trump would have been forced to hire the winner of the Celebrity Apprentice to actually work for him. If that were the case, he is smart enough to hire the most qualified person — Annie Duke! I would love to see him stuck with Joan Rivers running one of his projects. It would serve him right and he would probably have to take that awful daughter as well since Melissa is not capable of doing anything without mommy.
I’m glad ]oan won. That old broad was full of life, and you both made for great TV. So, everybody really won. I am sure you have some stuff lined up from this stint, and take away from it what it will benefit you and maybe your charity.
Annie, I admired you in the first few episodes however, when you started taking sole credit for most of the tasks, then started berating people behind their back, I lost respect for you. The finale really showed your true colors. You took the information you heard from the design personnel and ran with it. You exploited the truth and smeared Joan’s name just so you could win this challenge. Anyone that supports you and your actions is just the same; classless and pathetic. Sorry, that is real……….
So this is probably why Joan won:
“How’d You Get So Rich?” is a reality television series where comedienne Joan Rivers travels around the United States and confronts complete strangers who appear to have a lot of money.
“How’d You Get So Rich?” is executive produced by Mark Burnett (“Survivor (U.S. TV series),” “The Apprentice (U.S. TV series)”).
Some people are writing negative reviews and saying bad things about you,including they are glad you lost, yet, you allow these comments to be published on your website.
I think that alone makes you stand out as a talented person and a winner.
No matter what anyone says, you have nothing to be ashamed of, and you have opened up giant doors into TV land and the motion picture industry if you so desire.
Joan Rivers was clearly the audience favorite. There may be several reasons, but one, I think, is that what works at the poker table isn’t necessarily what works in other contexts. For most of the season, you played, or appeared to play, the game in a cold, calculating manner. To a poker player, that may be just plain smart, but to a lot of people it comes across as manipulative and twofaced. As out of line as Joan Rivers was at times, a lot of people would rather hear that stuff said to their face than to deal with somebody whom they don’t feel they can trust.
OMG! Annie please read this!!
I am a “Pooookah Playah” and yes, I would buy a t-shirt. Why not design a t-shirt to sell and have the proceeds go to your charity!
Joe wrote on May 15, 2009 at 12:43 PM: “Some people are writing negative reviews and saying bad things about you,including they are glad you lost, yet, you allow these comments to be published on your website.”
VERY true. I posted a rather thoughtful comment at the NBC.Com message board for “Celebrity Apprentice” that explained why I’ve always loved that show but they really blew it this time. It did post immediately after I clicked “submit” or “save” or whatever it was. But the next morning it was GONE! So I came here and posted it. Amazing how NBC and JoanRivers.com apparently edits everything. Annie lets it all show up here – one of the many things about her that is so great – she is REAL. I used to think The Donald was real, too, but he’s just a charlatan – and honestly, if you knew me, knew how much of a mongo Trump fan I’ve been since the early 1980′s, you’d be stunned to hear me say that. But it’s true, unfortunately. He’s untrustworthy. Very, very disappointing.
I’d buy a couple of “IMAH poookah playah” shirts as well.
But only if the logo had a “whore pit viper” somewhere in the design
AD is a
WHORE PIT VIPER/
POooohKA PLAYAH !?!
if this thing was totally rigged it would have been
JOAN VS RODMAN. Trust me. however, dennis went crazier than joan and melissa combined. “yeah, i am drunk, i am the team manager, and i am just going to go out to dinner with these gay guys DURING THE
TASK.”
Classic!
Trump is “Gordon Gekko”. “Greed is good”. He is a dinosaur today. His run as top dog is over.
I wonder if it ever dawned on Donald Trump that Joan River’s used HIM and HIS show to insult the very customer’s and patron’s of all the casino’s that bear HIS name? Between that and quitting, how and why did she last so long on that show?
Dice Clay got fired because he didnt like baking cup cakes….
Good Jon Anne,
CA Sucks, You rock.
Good Job Annie, As a long time resident of nevada im sure i will be dismissed as trash by your hollywood enemys LOL . You showed Class and Determination in your part on Celebrity Aprentice, that usually gets the “bitch” lable for any strong woman. unbelieveable lack of machurity and respect from both joan and melissa,WOW the donald too for not listening to you nor realizing you worked your ass off….. you won period ! HOPE TO SEE MORE OF YOU
I’m still flabbergasted by the people who say Annie was two-faced. All they are doing is mindlessly parroting Joan’s ridiculous accusations. Show me a single instance where Annie was two-faced.
You wouldn’t want a competent worker and leader on your team who knows how to get things done and can get people like Rodman and Tom green to actually do work when no one else could, but you would want a hateful mean-spirited witch like Joan Rivers working for you, when you know she’s going to cause clients to quit on you and offend other employees to the point where you are civilly liable for her behavior? ROFL
What ridiculous comments people like Kevin Lee make. I am always amazed, because I expect people to be rational, and when they aren’t, I’m just blown away. The good thing about people like Kevin, Tom, Mindy, Michele, Robynintoronto, et. al. is that they remind me that you simply can’t expect people to be rational. More often than not, they aren’t.
I like the T-shirt idea too, but I’d spell it Pohkah Playah. I’m an editor, and I like the balance of letters better in this spelling.
Go, Annie!
C
Brande and Annie would have made an absolute phenomenal Final episode. But then you wouldn’t have been able to watch Ms “cluck cluck cluck splash” completely fail and win anyway. Joan did one thing well the entire episode and that was the Kodak picture frame entrance. Everything else she did the entire episode was an epic fail. From drag queens to causing the event planner to quit to the Chuck E Cheese birthday party event to raising almost no money.
But it was such a tough decision. ROFL For an idiot, yeah, I guess it would be a close call. How do I justify allowing Joan to win when Annie was so much better. That is certainly a tough decision.