LOS ANGELES (Bloomberg, NYTimes) - Mark Burnett, the creator of The Apprentice, will not make public any unreleased footage or material from the show that features presidential candidate Donald Trump, saying he does not have the legal authority to do so.

"Various contractual and legal requirements" prevent Burnett and MGM Holdings, which acquired his production company last year, from making footage available, they said in an e-mailed statement on Monday.

Burnett also denied threatening litigation against anyone leaking footage from the show.

He and Mr Trump are both credited as producers for the series, according to MGM's website.

Left unanswered was the question that has consumed the news media and the political world in recent days: Do damning recordings exist of Mr Trump from The Apprentice set?

Interest in such material has intensified since last Friday, when a video emerged from another show, NBC's Access Hollywood, that showed Mr Trump making lewd remarks about kissing and groping women.

The producer said that he is a supporter of Democratic candidates.

His company was acquired in two stages by MGM, the studio that owns the rights to the James Bond film franchise, in 2014 and 2015.