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Miss Universe: Univision Says Donald Trump’s Lawsuit Over “Toxic” Pageant Should Be Thrown Out

Miss Universe, the organization behind the line of pageants that used to be owned by Donald Trump, has suffered greatly since Donald Trump’s campaign announcement and his subsequent legal battle...
Miss Universe: Univision Says Donald Trump’s Lawsuit Over “Toxic” Pageant Should Be Thrown Out
Written by Lacy Langley
  • Miss Universe, the organization behind the line of pageants that used to be owned by Donald Trump, has suffered greatly since Donald Trump’s campaign announcement and his subsequent legal battle with Univision.

    When Trump announced his intention to run for president, he did it in a somewhat rambling speech that included some half-baked plans to improve the country, ideas that will likely never see the light of day and he also appeared to call many illegal immigrants rapists and murderers.

    It was that last bit that started the racial firestorm against Trump which resulted in Univision and NBC Universal dropping their plans to broadcast the Trump-owned Miss Universe Pageant.

    After the networks dropped the pageant, Donald Trump sued Univision for defamation and for coercing NBC to follow their example.

    Even though Trump doesn’t own the Miss Universe franchise anymore, he hasn’t backed down from the lawsuit.

    On Friday, Univision filed a motion to have the court dismiss Trump’s amended complaint in the $500 million breach-of-contract and defamation case.

    The motion states, “The entire breach claim fails because Trump has pled himself out of court: the Amended Complaint and the public record show that Trump’s anti-Mexican immigrant tirades frustrated the essential purpose of Univision’s agreement, which was to secure 100% of the advertising revenues from broadcasting the Trump-branded pageants in Spanish to Univision’s predominantly Hispanic and largely Mexican-American audience.”

    From South Carolina last night- this is what I call a real supporter! #MakeAmericaGreatAgain #Trump2016

    A photo posted by Donald J. Trump (@realdonaldtrump) on

    It continued, “Trump’s invective — and Miss Universe’s silence in the face of it — rendered the pageants toxic to Univision’s viewership, which obliterated the central goal of the licensing deal and the very reason Univision was carrying the programs. Trump cannot now stick Univision with the bill.”

    However, Trump is nothing if not a proven player of hard ball. This plea from Univision will clearly not be enough to get him to back off of Univision and support the rebirth of Miss Universe competitions.

    One of Trump’s lawyers said of the case, “Clearly, this hasn’t been a good week for Univision. They are loaded with debt and just decided this week to once again postpone their long planned IPO. As far as the litigation, Univision can try to distract the court and the public from the real issues in dispute all it wants. The fact remains that Univision willfully breached their contract, acted in bad faith and caused my clients to suffer significant damages. For this, Univision will pay in the end.”

    So what became of the Miss Universe franchise?

    WME | IMG bought the Miss Universe Organization from Trump. The televised ceremonies now will be seen on Fox with the 64th annual Miss Universe Pageant airing live on December 20th.

    Miss Universe festivities and crowning will take place at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

    What do you think will become of this messy legal business between Trump and Univision over the Miss Universe pageant?

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