NBC has decided to follow Univision and sever ties with Donald Trump as he runs for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. The network will not air the Miss USA or Miss Universe pageants and will cancel Celebrity Apprentice.
“At NBC, respect and dignity for all people are cornerstones of our values,” NBC said in a statement. “Due to the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding immigrants, NBCUniversal is ending its business relationship with Mr. Trump.”
NBCUniversal co-owns the Miss Universe Organization with the Trump Organization, which might explain why the network was initially apprehensive to cut all ties with Trump. The network’s initial statement on Trump’s recent controversial comments about Mexico only stated that NBC did not agree with his positions.
“When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best,” Trump said during his campaign announcement speech earlier this month. “They're not sending you. They're not sending you. 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.”
Those comments didn’t sit well with Univision, which first ended its business relationship with Trump Thursday. Trump then threatened to sue and suggested that the Mexican government was putting pressure on the Spanish-language network.
While Trump hasn’t had a chance to react to the NBC news yet on Twitter, he did claim that Univision has apologized to him.
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