Univision is dropping the Miss USA pageant and says it will cut all business ties with Donald Trump over comments he made about Mexican immigrants.
The network said on Thursday it will not air the July pageant and has ended its business relationship with the Miss Universe Organization, which produces the Miss USA pageant, due to what it called “insulting remarks about Mexican immigrants” by Trump, a part owner of Miss Universe.
During his presidential campaign kickoff speech last week, Trump accused Latino immigrants of bringing drugs, crime and rapists to the US. He called for building a wall along the southern border of the US.
Trump says he was only criticizing US policies concerning Mexico, not its people. He says Univision is in default of a five-year contract.
In a statement, the network said: “At Univision we see first-hand the work ethic, love for family, strong religious values and the important role Mexican immigrants and Mexican-Americans have had and will continue to have in building the future of our country.”
Univision’s decision is the latest in the fallout over Trump’s remarks: on Thursday, Puerto Rican actress and Miss USA presenter Roselyn Sánchez severed her ties with the pageant. And on Wednesday, Colombian singer J Balvin canceled a planned performance.
A spokesman for Balvin said in a written statement that the singer’s management told the Miss Universe organization to withdraw his name from an announcement about participants in the Miss USA broadcast.
