Fresh out of the Celebrity Big Brother house, Omarosa Manigault stopped by The Late Show With Stephen Colbert on Wednesday, February 28, for a wide-ranging interview about her time on the CBS reality series, working with President Donald Trump in the White House and much more. Below, Us Weekly rounds up Manigault’s five biggest revelations from her 19-minute appearance.
1. Her Trump Remarks Were “Part of a Bigger Discussion”
The Apprentice alum, 44, suggested that her “it’s not going to be OK” comment about Trump’s presidency was taken out of context during her chat with housemate Ross Mathews on Celebrity Big Brother. “We were talking about a family of a man who had been in the country for 30 years and had been sent back, and Ross was expressing his concern about what was happening with immigration,” she claimed, adding that she doesn’t “want 15 seconds on a reality show to encapsulate such a serious subject.”
Mathews, 38, later denied Manigault’s remarks, though. “No shade, but Omarosa is mistaken,” he tweeted on Wednesday night. “This convo was not about the Dreamers (we discussed that at another time). This convo was about President Trump. When asked, she said we would not be okay. Simple as that. Perhaps BB can release the unedited footage.”
2. She Wasn’t Escorted Out of the White House
When the political aide resigned from her post in December, there were reports that she was forcibly removed from the grounds by Secret Service. “Not at all,” she clarified, pointing out that she had committed to the role for only one year. “Everybody talks about me going on reality TV, but … the way they describe this White House, it sounds more reality TV-ish. … I’d like to make it as dramatic as it would be on a reality TV show but it’s just as simple as that.”
3. Hope Hicks’ “Lies” Included Trump’s Crowd Size
Hicks admitted to a House panel that she told “white lies” for the president prior to leaving her post as White House communications director on Wednesday, February 28. When asked about the news, Manigault said, “I suspect the first one would be about crowd size but I don’t want to go into it.” (Trump, 71, repeatedly claimed that more people attended his 2017 inauguration than President Barack Obama’s 2009 ceremony.)
“I got to see the inauguration of Clinton, of Bush, of Obama, and when we got to the Trump inauguration, they said this is the largest crowd size. I said, ‘Man I’ve been to a lot of inaugurations. This wasn’t the biggest,’” explained the reality star, who worked in Al Gore’s office during Bill Clinton’s administration in the 1990s. “I didn’t want to be the one to break it to him.”
4. She Remained Loyal to Trump
When asked if some of her former boss’ actions as POTUS worry her, Manigault said, “Look, Donald Trump was my friend for 15 years. … And watching him in this position has caused me to be excited sometimes and sometimes be very, very concerned. I think if you woke up and your best friend was president tomorrow, you’d have that same range of emotions.”
5. She Was Disturbed by Trump’s Access Hollywood Tape
The Howard University alum said it “was like a gut punch” hearing Trump brag to Billy Bush about grabbing women “by the p–sy” in a 2005 recording that was published online during the 2016 presidential election. “It was probably one of the most extreme [moments],” she added. (The New York Times reported in November 2017 that Trump claimed the tape was “not authentic.” Bush later responded in an op-ed for the newspaper, arguing, “Of course he said it.”)
