Donald Trump is continuing to deal with the consequences of his actions.
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After making insulting and offensive comments about undocumented Mexican immigrants while kicking off his 2016 presidential campaign, the Spanish-language station Univision announced June 25 it had decided to pull the plug on televised pageants partly owned by the 69-year-old The Celebrity Apprentice star.
And now, NBCUniversal has also decided to sever its business ties from Trump by refusing to air the Miss USA pageant, which had been scheduled for July 12, as well as Miss Universe, E! News reported.
"At NBC, respect and dignity for all people are cornerstones of our values. Due to the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding immigrants, NBCUniversal is ending its business relationship with Mr. Trump," the company said in a media statement.
"To that end, the annual Miss USA and Miss Universe Pageants, which are part of a joint venture between NBC and Trump, will no longer air on NBC. In addition, as Mr. Trump has already indicated, he will not be participating in The Celebrity Apprentice on NBC. Celebrity Apprentice is licensed from Mark Burnett's United Artists Media Group and that relationship will continue."
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Trump had bashed Mexicans in a speech a couple weeks back in which he had called them drug dealers, criminals and rapists. He had also bragged about his intentions to build a massive, sturdy wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to keep such threats to our country out.
NBC reportedly succumbed to the pressure from a large number of Hispanic advocacy organizations protesting Trump as well as the 215,000-plus individuals who have signed a Change.org petition. According to E! News, NBC wants to keep The Celebrity Apprentice going but replace Trump as its host. The series' eighth edition is slated to air during 2015-2016 broadcast season.
Trump had no immediate comment.
Last week, NBC made it clear they were beginning to distance themselves from Trump in light of his inflammatory comments.
"Donald Trump's opinions do not represent those of NBC, and we do not agree with his position on a number of issues, including his recent comments on immigration," the network had told People.
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The statement didn't satisfy most Hispanic leaders. However, according to CNN Money, NBC attorneys just needed time to renew its contracts with Trump before making their official announcement Monday.
After Trump discovered Univision no longer wanted to work with him, the political candidate threatened to file a "major lawsuit" against them due to the fact they had entered a five-year contract with Miss USA just five months ago.
It's unclear how Trump will react to NBC's decision considering he had just called them a "tremendous friend and partner" last week.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski