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Omaroseonee Manigault-Stallworth (born February 15, 1974),[1] usually known simply as Omarosa, is a two-time participant on Donald Trump's television reality show The Apprentice.[3]
Manigault-Stallworth was born and raised in Youngstown, Ohio,[2] where she attended Rayen High School, before earning a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism at Central State University. She later moved to Washington, D.C. in order to attend Howard University, where she pursued both a Master's and Ph.D. in Communications.[1] In 2000, she married Aaron Stallworth, but the two separated in 2005,[4] and later divorced.[5]
Manigault-Stallworth is a former political consultant who worked for then Vice-President Al Gore during the Clinton Administration.[6][7]
In August 2009, Manigault-Stallworth enrolled in United Theological Seminary in Ohio to pursue a Doctor of Ministry degree.[8]
Manigault-Stallworth first came into the spotlight in 2004 after becoming a participant on NBC's reality TV Series, The Apprentice, produced by Mark Burnett, and starring business mogul Donald Trump. With her controversial behavior, she soon became the "woman America loved to hate"[9] and was named by E! as reality TV's No. 1 bad girl.[10] However, Manigault-Stallworth claims the show's producers manipulated the footage to make her look like the villain, and said, "These shows are constructed. They don't happen, nor do they portray actual reality. They are constructed reality." She added, "Historically, African-Americans have been portrayed negatively on reality television. We don't come across well. You've got to start looking and saying, 'Is that really how all African-Americans are?' Because they are trying to say that this is representative of our people."[9]
Since her participation on the first season of The Apprentice, Manigault-Stallworth has gone on to appear on over 20 other reality shows, including VH1's fifth season of The Surreal Life,[7] NBC's Fear Factor and Oxygen's prank show Girls Behaving Badly.[10] She has also been a guest on nearly every major talk show on TV, including a controversial appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show. It was on Oprah's show where the often contentious Manigault-Stallworth accused fellow Apprentice participant, Ereka Vetrini, of calling her the "n-word," a claim Vetrini has strenuously denied.[11]
In January 2008, Manigault-Stallworth became the only former Apprentice participant to be invited back to The Celebrity Apprentice,[12] where she quickly became embroiled in a personal feud with Piers Morgan. She was eventually fired in the tenth episode after serving as the project manager of the team that, according to Trump, suffered "the biggest slaughter in the history of The Apprentice" in a challenge to sell artwork against a team led by Morgan.[13]
In November 2008, Manigault-Stallworth reported that she was teaming up with Donald Trump to develop a dating show for herself.[5] In November 2009, Manigault-Stallworth and Donald Trump announced that the dating show they were working on will be aired on TV One.[14] The series, entitled The Ultimate Merger, premiered on June 17, 2010, and includes R&B singer/producer Al B. Sure! as one of the contestants.[15]
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