Donald Trump is in the middle of a big mess right now after making a few controversial remarks about Mexican immigrants as part of his presidential campaign. Because of Trump's connection to the Miss USA and Miss Universe competitions, Univision and Nuestra Belleza Latina (the organization in charge of choosing Mexico's representative to Miss Universe) took a stand and made their disappointment and anger with Trump's speech well known, pulling Miss Mexico out of the competition, while singer J Balvin, scheduled to perform at the Miss USA pageant on July 12, has canceled his appearance. Now, Macy's has joined the backlash by dropping Trump's line of menswear, as the plot continues to thicken. Keep scrolling to find out all the details of the controversy, then read this viral open letter to Trump.
Donald Trump Makes Inflammatory Comments About Mexican Immigrants
"When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending the best. They're not sending you, they're sending people that have lots of problems and they're bringing those problems. They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime. They're rapists and some, I assume, are good people, but I speak to border guards and they're telling us what we're getting [. . .] They're sending us not the right people. It's coming from more than Mexico. It's coming from all over South and Latin America."
"I would build a Great Wall, and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me, and I'll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border and I will have Mexico pay for that wall, mark my words."
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Mexico Threatens to Pull Contestant Out of Miss Universe
Lupita Jones, a former Miss Universe winner and the director of Nuestra Belleza Mexico, took to Twitter to announce Mexico's representative for this year's Miss Universe contest, Wendy Esparza, might be removed from the competition. Jones said (via a message in Spanish on TwitLonger) that after hearing Trump's comments, she spoke to the director of the Miss Universe Organization, Paula Shugart, who guarantees the Mexican contestant will be treated with respect, adding that if Wendy's integrity and dignity are ever at risk, she will cancel her participation.
J Balvin, who was set to perform on American national television for the first time at the Miss USA broadcast on July 12, canceled his appearance. The Colombian singer told Billboard: "We're talking about our roots, our culture, our values. This isn't about being punitive, but about showing leadership through social responsibility. His comments weren't just about Mexicans, but about all Latins in general."
The Latin TV channel announced that it is cutting all ties with the Miss Universe and Miss USA competitions immediately. In a statement, Univision called Trump's comments "insulting," saying: "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."
Mexican gov doesn't want me talking about terrible border situation & horrible trade deals. Forcing Univision to get me to stop- no way!
Univision wants to back out of signed @MissUniverse contract because I exposed the terrible trade deals that the U.S. makes with Mexico.
I love Mexico but not the unfair trade deals that the US so stupidly makes with them. Really bad for US jobs, only good for Mexico.
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Donald Trump Wants to Take Legal Action Against Univision
Image Source: Getty / Alexander Tamargo
Donald Trump's lawyers told Politicothey're planning to sue Univision for breach of contract. In the statement, Michael Cohen, Trump's executive vice president and special counsel, said: "We intend to pursue all legal rights and remedies available to Mr. Trump pursuant to the terms of the license agreement as well as a defamation case against Univision. I am at this moment finalizing the retainer agreement with outside counsel." Univision says it won't be commenting on the situation anymore.
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Miss USA Needs New Hosts
Image Source: Getty / Slaven Vlasic
Both Puerto Rican actress Roselyn Sanchez and Chilean actor Christián de la Fuente have bowed out from cohosting the Miss USA broadcast airing on July 12. In a statement published on The Hollywood Reporter, Roselyn said: "I was very excited and proud to have been invited to participate in Miss USA, but as a Latina, that is now inconceivable. Although I am not Mexican, I am Puerto Rican and a proud Latina, and his comments were an insult to our culture. I won't sponsor anything produced by Donald Trump." Christián opted to post an Instagram message that read:
"Mr. Trump, As a #Latino I cannot work in an event associated with your name. The statements you made against Mexicans and immigrants show that you are ignorant. It is unacceptable to launch your presidential candidacy creating rhetoric of hatred and discrimination in calling Mexicans drug traffickers and rapists. It's a shame that such an important institution as Miss USA is now in the hands of a clown."
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NBC Says It Doesn't Agree With Trump
Image Source: Getty / Angela Weiss
According to The Hollywood Reporter, NBC, which airs Miss USA and Trump's reality show The Apprentice, released a statement saying: "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."
In an exclusive interview with Us Weekly, Donald Trump said: "There is nothing to apologize for. Everything that I said is correct. People are flowing through the borders and we have no idea who they are, where they're coming from. They're not only coming from Mexico, they're coming from all over South America and the world." In reference to Roselyn Sanchez, Christián de la Fuente, and J Balvin canceling their appearances on Miss USA, Trump stated: "We'll get more people. We have many people that want to do this. We're just looking right now. We couldn't care less about those two hosts backing out. I never even heard of them quite frankly."
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NBC Won't Air Miss USA
Image Source: Getty / Stacy Revere
After critics started a petition calling for NBC to cut all ties with Donald Trump, the channel has decided not to air this year's Miss USA, scheduled for July 12, and to cancel all participation of Trump on The Celebrity Apprentice. The channel has aired the competition for the past 11 years.
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Miss Mexico Won't Be Participating in Miss Universe 2015
Image Source: Getty / Victor Chavez
Mexican TV channel Televisa won't be airing Miss Universe anymore, and with that Lupita Jones, the director of Nuestra Belleza Mexico, has confirmed Miss Mexico won't be attending this year's competition.
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Miss USA Is Still Happening, But Might Not Be Broadcasted
Image Source: Getty / Stacy Revere
The Miss USA competition is still happening in Baton Rouge on July 12, even though there's no channel willing to broadcast the show. The organization told US Weekly: "This year's Miss USA contestants represent many different ethnic backgrounds, including six Latinas (four of whom are of Mexican descent.) Annually, nearly ten thousand young women all around the world participate in Miss Universe pageant events. We continue to welcome those from all backgrounds to enter our system."
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Trump Presents $500 Million Lawsuit Against Univision
Trump is not backing down. He is suing Univision for breach of contract after the channel decided not to air the Miss USA pageant. The lawsuit says that Univision was trying to suppress his freedom of speech by publicly denouncing his comments.
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Cheryl Burke and Thomas Roberts Drop Miss USA Cohosting Gig
"In light of the recent statements made by Donald Trump and the subsequent decision by NBC to cut ties with Mr. Trump, I cannot in good conscience move forward with participating in this year's Miss USA Pageant as its co-host. Effective today I have withdrawn from my duties with Miss USA. Although I will not be there in person, I wish all of the contestants much luck as I know how hard they've all been working over the last year to try and realize their dreams."
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Ricky Martin Cancels Charity Event at Trump's Golf Course
The Puerto Rican singer and his foundation were set to host a charity golf tournament at the Trump International Golf Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, but have now canceled the event. A spokesperson for Ricky said in a press release: "The decision corresponds to the commitment of solidarity from our founding president to human rights and the Latino community."
Macy's has cut all ties with Trump and is phasing out his line of menswear sold at the store since 2004. In a statement posted by The Huffington Post, the department store said: "We are disappointed and distressed by recent remarks about immigrants from Mexico. We do not believe the disparaging characterizations portray an accurate picture of the many Mexicans, Mexican Americans and Latinos who have made so many valuable contributions to the success of our nation." The move comes after more than 800,000 people signed a petition asking the corporation to separate itself from Trump.
Reelz will be airing the Miss USA contest on July 12. In a statement to People, the CEO of Reelz, Stan E. Hubbard, said: "The decision on the part of Reelz to acquire the rights to the Miss USA pageant was based on our belief that this special event, and the women who compete in it, are an integral part of the American tradition."
