__twocolumncontent.jpg)
Now that NBC and Univision have broken off from their broadcast deals with Donald Trump, many involved in his Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants are following suit.
In the wake of Trump’s insulting comments about immigrants during a speech announcing his presidential bid, Mexico’s Televisa is also dropping his pageants. In previous years, Televisa worked with the Miss Universe pageant to find and send a candidate from Mexico, but it has decided not to send anyone this year because of Trump’s statements.
“For Televisa, any commercial relationship with the Miss Universe pageant and with the companies of the Trump organization is unacceptable,” Televisa said in a statement.
Univision was the first to drop the telecast, and Trump is now suing the broadcaster for $500 million. Trump, along with his Miss Universe Organization, claims that Univision breached their contract when it decided not to air the Miss USA pageant as planned. The lawsuit also includes a defamation claim against the broadcaster for statements made by Univision executives throughout the controversy.
In his complaint, Trump even went so far as to blame fellow presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton for the controversy:
“While Univision has claimed in the media that its decision to cut ties with MUO came in response to certain comments by Mr. Trump during a June 16, 2015, campaign speech announcing his candidacy for President of the United States, the decision was, in reality, a thinly veiled attempt by Univision, a privately held company principally owned by longtime Clinton Foundation donor and current Hillary Clinton fundraiser, Haim Saban, to suppress Mr. Trump’s freedom of speech under the First Amendment as he begins to campaign for the nation’s presidency and, in recent weeks, has dramatically risen in the polls while expressing critical views of Mrs. Clinton.”
Trump has said he plans to sue NBC for dropping broadcasts of his pageants as well.
As of Tuesday, even the Miss USA co-hosts have dropped out. Dancing With the Stars’ Cheryl Burke and MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts stepped down from their positions as co-hosts on Tuesday, one day following NBC’s dropping the broadcast.
Univision’s Spanish-language telecast hosts Roselyn Sanchez and Cristian de la Fuente also stepped down last week.
Despite the lack of hosts, Miss USA has decided to continue with the pageant on July 12, streaming it on its own website.
NBC has decided to air its “USA vs. The World” episode of American Ninja Warrior in place of its previously scheduled Miss USA telecast on July 12.
The controversy and subsequent involvement of NBC and Univision all started with Trump’s speech announcing his campaign for president, which included the statement below:
“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
Read more at Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter.
Brief Take: It’s no surprise that more TV networks and personalities have decided to distance themselves from Trump, but the future of the Miss USA and Miss Universe are less certain, now that they have no broadcast partners and no hosts for the event.
[Image courtesy of Deadline]
Tags: