Donald Trump - H 2015
AP ImagesA version of this story first appeared in the Aug. 14 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
Donald Trump‘s communications team has had its hands full since even before the mogul announced his Republican presidential candidacy June 16. Now sources tell THR that Trump, in seeking to add another high-ranking member to the team, went to NBC (which fired him in June) to do so. Trump offered a job to Sharon Pannozzo, vp East Coast entertainment publicity at NBCUniversal, with whom he worked closely during Celebrity Apprentice.
We’re told Pannozzo, who has been at NBC since 2008 and before that spent 24 years with the Chicago Cubs’ media relations department, turned the Donald down. A Trump spokesperson says, “Mr. Trump has the greatest respect for Sharon, but there is no truth to this.”
No matter his controversial rhetoric, Trump appears to be doing something right: According to a new CBS News poll, Trump currently leads the Republican field for the GOP nomination with 24 percent of the vote, followed by Jeb Bush with 13 percent and Scott Walker with 10 percent.
