NBC cuts ties with Donald Trump, Miss USA Pageant; ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ will continue in new form
We had a feeling that there was going to another shoe to drop when it comes to NBC’s relationship with Donald Trump, and on Monday this happened in a big way. The network effectively cut all ties with the Presidential candidate / businessman following a series of comments about Mexican immigrants, and with this it means that the Miss USA and Miss Universe Pageants will no longer be broadcast on the network. Not only that, but “The Celebrity Apprentice” could move forward seemingly without him. Will it feature someone else as host? It’s possible, based on the statement that NBC released today:
“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. 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 Apprentice on NBC. Celebrity Apprentice is licensed from Mark Burnett’s United Artists Media Group and that relationship will continue.”
The obvious losers in all of this are going to be the women in the Miss USA and subsequent Miss Universe Pageants, who went through a long process only for someone else’s actions to take away what they likely thought was going to be an opportunity for major exposure on TV. Trump co-owns the pageant, so we wonder already what sort of experience this will be like for them this year.
Our read on the “Apprentice” comment is that the show will hire someone new for the spot, which makes sense given that it is a good franchise for them financially, and Trump really only has a small role in the proceedings.
Do you think NBC did the right thing? Vote in our poll below, and head over here to see more of what Trump had to say over the weekend. Also, you can sign up now to get some other news on all we cover, courtesy of our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: NBC.)