Don’t call me Governator!
DON’T CALL HIM GOVERNATOR.
Or Arnold, or even
Mr. Schwarzenneger ,a source from the set of the “The New Celebrity Apprentice” told Daily News MediaBlast columnist Don Kaplan.
Instead, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the new boss on the NBC reality competition (which debuts Monday at 8 p.m.) demanded that celebrity contestants on the show refer to him simply as : “Governor.”
“He was very specific,” the show source said.
Those that didn’t faced the wrath of the movie star turned politician who tore into any contestants who dared refer to the former Mr. Universe as anything but the title acknowledging his two terms as the California’s top executive.
“He literally snapped at a couple of people who called him Arnold,” our source said. At one point Schwarzenegger overheard someone refer to him as ‘The Governator’ and he his response was even worse,” the source said, refusing to elaborate.
Contestant (and host of NBC’s “American Ninja Warrior”) Matt Iseman backed up the account Wednesday. According to Iseman, another contestant, comedian Jon Lovitz referred to the boss as “Arnold” on the first day of filming and was quickly corrected. “Out there I am Arnold,” Schwarzenegger said. “In here, I am The Governor,” the former politician said.
“He’s a ball-buster,” says Iseman.
Schwarzenegger was first elected in 2003 and served until 2011.
But by insisting on the title, Schwarzenegger is actually dishonoring California’s current governor, Jerry Brown according to Robert Hickey, the deputy director of The Protocol School of Washington and the author of the book, “Honor & Respect: The Official Guide to Names, Titles & Forms of Address.”
“Former governors are not ‘officially’ addressed as Governor (name) because there is only one governor of a state at a time ... and doing do so is not respectful of the state’s current governor,” Hickey wrote on his blog, formsofaddress.info.
Schwarzenegger is replacing President-elect Donald Trump, who starred on two different versions of the show for 14
seasons.