WHILE IT WAS THE RUSSIANS, wreaking havoc on the election, who won the White House for Donald John Trump, the man who made Trump palatable to voters—who burnished the popular image of the longtime mob money launderer, serial rapist, and piece of shit human—was the TV producer Mark Burnett.

On his “reality” show The Apprentice, Burnett sold America a successful, hard-working, comfortably wealthy version of Trump that was completely divorced from reality. On the show, Trump had his shit together. On the show, Trump was an alpha male. On the show, Trump was not afraid to say “You’re fired” to someone’s face. The Trump on the show was a fictional character.

The comic Noel Casler worked on Celebrity Apprentice for six seasons. For the last three, he worked closely with Ivanka Trump. Unlike his colleagues, Casler has bravely thwarted his nondisclosure agreement, taking to the stand-up stage, and to Twitter, to tell us the unvarnished truth. And like Trump’s hair-do, it ain’t pretty:

Greg Olear: Let’s start with your bona fides. You were a staffer at The Apprentice, which with its Celebrity Apprentice incarnation was on TV for much longer than I’d remembered. Donald John Trump hosted the show from 2004-2015, so he really did jump from that job to the presidency, which seems even more preposterous when I type it out. How long were you working there, and what did your job duties involve?

Noel Casler: I was on Celebrity Apprentice for six seasons of the Finale Tapings. I initially took the gig on a lark. A friend of mine had been given the job of Talent Executive for the first season of CA, which has shot in SNL’s Studio 8H. She needed some experienced talent handlers, which is what I had done for most of my career in live TV, starting in 1993 on the Kennedy Center Honors. So I was assigned to the Celebrity Talent, basically making sure they get delivered to the DGA Stage Managers on time for their live “hit,” and dealing with all their needs backstage. That first year I was assigned to Piers Morgan. In subsequent years I handled the musical performers, such as Cyndi Lauper. Then for the final three seasons, I was Ivanka Trump’s exclusive handler. That’s when the fun really began, LOL.

GO: We’ll get to Ivanka in a second. First: like most Twitterers, I read your feed with astonishment. “How can he get away with saying this stuff?” I say to myself. So let me ask point-blank: How can you get away with saying this stuff? Didn’t you sign an NDA?

NC: I say what I say because it’s true. Trump knows it is true. During the 2016 campaign, Mark Burnett threatened to sue anyone who had worked on the Apprentice crew. This caused many of my colleagues to fall silent. (They had been speaking out on Facebook—including former directors of the show— and I think word got back to him.) I told the HRC campaign what I knew, and at their behest, I told People Magazine. I address the NDA stuff in my stand up.

GO: Yes, to great comic effect. I’ll add that NDAs are typically used to protect trade secrets, not to cover for a a corrupt criminal running for president. But then, Burnett wanted to make a show extolling Putin, so he’s not the most patriotic guy. What can you tell us about him? Burnett, not Putin.

NC: He is the man behind the curtain in many respects. And becoming enormously wealthy. I will say Mark Burnett helped create the Trump we now see. He’s one of his staunchest supporters and allies, and was in the room for many a racist tirade from Trump’s mouth that was recorded by the audio crew on that show.