Aubrey was finally fired in The Celebrity Apprentice 5 Episode 13, setting up a final showdown between Clay Aiken and Arsenio Hall.
Trump starts off the evening getting a ride from an Andretti. I seem to remember him going out of his way to fire one of them for no good reason earlier in the season.
For all the drama of the cliffhanger we were left with, the video Arsenio received of Magic Johnson is perfectly usable. Typical.
The Clay/Debbie wall painting drama continues. When he receives pictures of her cousin’s past work, he agrees to let her paint. Because you wouldn’t want your walls to look silly when you’re putting on a carnival.
Aubrey continues to remind us that, in spite of the fact that she’s been fired, she’s still the best one there and the only reason Clay has anything.
Lou Ferrigno has gone out and given 110%, raising $41,000 for his charity, and George Takei has also raised about $60,000, much of it from himself. Dayana Mendoza does not have anything positive to say about Lisa, who did not display anything positive that could be said about her. Victoria Gotti refers to Aubrey as a cartoon character and Lisa as crude, rude, and classless. Tia Carrere doesn’t need to name names because everybody knows, but she’s not surprised to see two men in the finale.
When the parties start, there are Claymates everywhere. In Arsenio’s line, there’s about 6 people. Hopefully they’ll show up eventually.
Clay gets some donations from singers, and his largest initial donation is $20,000, pooled together by a bunch of his fans. Arsenio’s getting donations from comedians like Jay Leno and Eddie Murphy. Lisa manages to sneak away from Arsenio’s party, which she’s supposed to be working, to make a $10,000 donation to Clay.
After mingling on their own for a while, the parties cross together for Arsenio’s stand up and Clay’s musical show.
Aubrey’s blonde now. She seems surprised that anybody could have taken offense, but says this was a learning experience and apologizes for offending everybody.
Arsenio’s team raised $167,100; Clay’s team raised $301,500. Less impressive than what we’ve seen in years past, but still respectable. Based on how they tried to make it seem he never really focused on fundraising, plus taking into account who was on each team, I was not expecting Clay to have such a lopsided money victory. Trump tells us this isn’t all the task is being judged on, but it would seem very difficult to overcome.
Dayana would vote for Arsenio based on her experience working with Clay.
Ivanka says Clay was liked by almost everybody, strategically refined, and assertive when he needed to be. Arsenio was a bit more passive but highly effective as a leader, in spite of having a few more enemies.
The Celebrity Apprentice 5 winner is Arsenio Hall. Clay again has to settle for runner up status.