Youngest 'Apprentice' Candidate Fired
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The youngest candidate on NBC's "The Apprentice" (search) heard the words "you're fired" after fizzling out on a task centering on the creation of a limited-edition soda bottle.
Mosaic project manager Andy Litinsky (search), 23, and team members Jennifer Massey, 30, and Sandy Ferreira, 28, fell flat when presenting their geography-themed marketing campaign for Pepsi Edge in front of an auditorium filled with marketing professionals on Thursday's episode.
"On the show, one of the Pepsi people said geography wasn't cool," Litinsky told The Associated Press Friday. "I think geography is cool. It's fun. Maps are cool. State capitals are cool. I can't apologize for liking geography."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In the boardroom, Massey and Ferreira had a verbal catfight over who was the most creative during the task while Litinsky, sitting between the women, kept his lips sealed. The confrontation lasted seconds on the show. In reality, the spat, which Donald Trump (search) ended by banging on the conference table, was much longer.
"The girls were fighting for like half an hour," said Litinsky. "I thought (Trump) was going to break up the fight. But then he fired me."
Trump told the Harvard graduate he didn't want "somebody running one of my companies that's going to be beaten up so badly" before wagging his finger and firing him. Litinsky, a nationally ranked debate champion, regrets not stopping the argument himself.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I was depending on Mr. Trump to break it up," Litinsky told the AP. "But I should've done that and not let it spiral out of control."
Despite losing the task and being fired, Litinsky hasn't sipped his last soda.
He's signed a promotional deal with Pepsi.