Scottsdale man puts squeeze on 'The Donald' for a spot on TV show

Jul. 28, 2004 12:00 AM

Three months ago, 29-year-old Scottsdale furniture store owner Ali Parnian tried to put the squeeze on Donald Trump, offering to sell him the domain name www.getfired.com for $100,000 or give it to Trump free in exchange for a shot as a contestant on the hit reality show The Apprentice.

Taking a page out of the Trump playbook got Parnian noticed. Casting director Paul Gordon called him earlier this month.

"I think he wanted to know if I was just trying to get money out of Trump or if I really wanted to be on the show," Parnian said.

Gordon asked him to shoot a new audition tape and have it on his desk two days later. He did. Now he's flying to San Francisco on Thursday for an in-person interview.

"I'm estimating I'm in the top 200 right now, but for me that's huge," Parnian said.

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