ABC/Lou RoccoDonald Trump filed a $500 million lawsuit against Univision Tuesday over the network’s decision to terminate its contract with Trump’s Miss Universe Organization and not broadcast the upcoming Miss USA pageant, according to New York state court records.
The Spanish-language broadcaster recently announced it would not show the July 12 Miss USA pageant after Trump made “insulting remarks about Mexican immigrants” during a speech announcing his presidential candidacy.
“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best,” Trump said in the speech. “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
When asked by ABC News last week whether he regretted those comments, Trump said, “Not at all. I said it about people from all over. I didn’t say it about Mexico — I said people from all over.”
Trump believes that the termination of the contract was a “politically motivated attempt to suppress” his freedom of speech “as he begins to campaign for the nation’s presidency,” according to the complaint, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court.
The suit, which alleges breach of contract and defamation, also claims that Univision pressured NBC to cut ties with Trump and the Miss Universe Organization on Monday.
Univision called the suit both “factually false and legally ridiculous” in a statement.
“We will not only vigorously defend the case, but will continue to fight against Mr. Trump’s ongoing efforts to run away from the derogatory comments he made on June 16th about Mexican immigrants,” the statement said.
NBC announced earlier this week it will not broadcast the Miss USA pageant, and on Tuesday, Dancing with the Stars‘ Cheryl Burke and MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts said they will no longer host the event. The pageant will be streamed on MissUniverse.com/MissUSA.
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