Trump lambasts CNN as 'fake news' for reporting Celebrity Apprentice role

President-elect Donald Trump has lambasted CNN as "fake news" after the media outlet reported his intention to stay on as an executive producer on The Celebrity Apprentice.

The 15th season of the TV show, which will start on 2 January, featured Trump as its original star but has moved in a new direction with Arnold Schwarzenegger as its new host.

On Thursday (8 December), however, film and television studio MGM confirmed Trump would remain in the show's credit sequence and will earn "five figures" for his contribution. Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway also defended the decision saying that the president-elect would only use his "spare time" to work on the show.

However, Trump – in his usual manner – took to Twitter to deride CNN for their coverage of the story.

He tweeted: "Reports by CNN that I will be working on The Apprentice during my Presidency, even part-time, are ridiculous and untrue – FAKE NEWS!"

Mark Burnett, the show's creator alongside Trump, distanced himself from the president-elect after derogatory comments were made about Mexican immigrants during the US presidential campaign.

Burnett also publicly disavowed himself from the Republican citing the "hatred, division, and misogyny" that was prevalent.

NBC Universal, which airs The Celebrity Apprentice, also reeled back from its support for Trump stating it would not air the show unless the business mogul was completely removed from the series.

When news that Trump would remain a feature of the show was confirmed, NBC – which owns a major news network – was widely criticised for the conflict of interests.

Trump has scheduled a press conference for 15 December in New York to discuss his plans for extricating himself from his vast array of business interests after he is sworn in as president on 20 January.