Joan Rivers claims Paul Newman was going to be on Celebrity Apprentice

Celebrity Apprentice 2 winner and Donald Trump BFF Joan Rivers claims in a new documentary that she signed on for the show only because Paul Newman was going to participate, too, although he died a month before production began.

In Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, she says she signed on “because NBC assured her Paul Newman was initially set to do it. Rivers thought the show was beneath her, but with Newman’s supposed interest and her need for money, she signed up,” according to The New York Post.

But NBC denies that; a spokesperson said, “Paul Newman was not lined up to do ‘The Celebrity Apprentice.’”

By the way, here’s the trailer for the documentary, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, which was screened at Sundance this year and was nominated for the documentary grand jury prize and won best documentary editing: