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Univision dropping Miss USA pageant over Trump comments

NEW YORK — A Univision network is dropping the Miss USA pageant and the company says it will cut all business ties with Mr Donald Trump in a spiralling controversy over comments the Republican presidential candidate made recently about Mexican immigrants.

In this June 16, 2013 file photo, Mr Donald Trump, left, and Miss Connecticut USA Erin Brady pose onstage after Brady won the 2013 Miss USA pageant in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo: AP

In this June 16, 2013 file photo, Mr Donald Trump, left, and Miss Connecticut USA Erin Brady pose onstage after Brady won the 2013 Miss USA pageant in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo: AP

NEW YORK — A Univision network is dropping the Miss USA pageant and the company says it will cut all business ties with Mr Donald Trump in a spiralling controversy over comments the Republican presidential candidate made recently about Mexican immigrants.

Univision said yesterday (June 25) it would pull the plug on its Spanish-language coverage of the pageant July 12 by its UniMas network. It also has severed 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 Mr Trump, a part owner of Miss Universe.

During his presidential campaign kickoff speech last week, Mr Trump portrayed immigrants from Mexico as "bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists, and some, I assume, are good people." He also called for building a wall along the southern border of US The remarks drew condemnation from the Mexican government as "biased and absurd".

NBC is scheduled to go forward with its own pageant coverage, as it has done since 2003. But in a statement yesterday, the network sought to separate itself from Mr Trump's remarks.

"Mr Donald Trump's opinions do not represent those of NBC, and we do not agree with his positions on a number of issues, including his recent comments on immigration," NBC said.

Mr Trump is part of another NBC program, Celebrity Apprentice.

In an interview yesterday, Mr Trump said his criticism was directed against US policymakers, not the Mexican people or government, adding that Univision would be defaulting on its contract if it doesn't air the pageant and he would take legal action.

"At Univision, we see firsthand 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," said the New York-based Univision Communications.

Both co-hosts of the UniMas telecast also pulled out yesterday, while Colombian singer J Balvin on Wednesday cancelled a planned performance at the pageant.

"The only thing I could do as a person, not only as an artist, but as a Latino that I am, was to cancel my show immediately," he told The Associated Press yesterday.

Mr Trump said Univision is submitting to pressure from Mexican leaders to punish him for positions he voices as a candidate on the campaign trail.

"They don't want me saying that Mexico is killing the United States in trade and killing the United States at the border," Mr Trump said. "Univision is totally laying down for the Mexican government. ... They want to silence Mr Donald Trump. And Mr Donald Trump can't be silenced. ... I have great respect for Mexico and I love the Mexican people, but my loyalty is to the United States."

Univision declined to comment on Mr Trump's remarks.

In severing her ties with the show, Puerto Rican actress Roselyn Sanchez, one of the two co-hosts, cited Mr Trump's comments.

"Since I heard Mr Trump's speech, as a Latina I felt a lump in my stomach. 'It's got to be a joke', I thought," the star of the Lifetime series Devious Maids told The Associated Press.

Also yesterday, Chilean actor-producer Cristian de la Fuente, the show's other co-host, had strong words for Mr Trump: "It's a shame that such an important institution as Miss USA is now in the hands of a clown."

Ricky Martin also took to Twitter to blast Mr Trump.

"A lot of hatred and ignorance in his heart," he tweeted.

Miss California USA Natasha Martinez was asked about Mr Trump's comments during an interview yesterday on Los Angeles TV station KCAL and said they were "a little bit tough to hear".

"But I know that this opportunity for me as Miss California-USA, and now competing for Miss USA, is a great bridge to kind of represent my community and let the world know that I am a proud Latino-American," she said.

This year's UniMas telecast would have been the first in a five-year contract that Mr Trump said "has no termination rights". Univision's wholly owned Spanish-language UniMas network, founded in 2013, is available in 70 million US homes. AP

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