FILE
- In this June 16, 2013, file photo, Donald Trump, left, and Miss
Connecticut USA Erin Brady pose onstage after Brady won the 2013 Miss
USA pageant in Las Vegas. The Reelz channel said Thursday, July 2, 2015,
it will carry Trump's Miss USA pageant that was dropped by NBC after
Trump made critical comments about immigrants from Mexico. (AP
Photo/Jeff Bottari, File)
LOS
ANGELES (AP) — The Miss USA pageant, left without a TV home following
blowback against co-owner Donald Trump over his comments on Mexican
immigrants, has been rescued by the Reelz channel.
In
a statement Thursday, Reelz CEO Stan E. Hubbard said the cable and
satellite channel acquired the rights because of a belief that the
pageant and the women who compete in it "are an integral part of
American tradition."
"As
one of only a few independent networks, we decided to exercise our own
voice and committed ourselves to bringing this pageant to American
viewers everywhere," Hubbard said.
While
Reelz, which reaches 70 million homes, said it considered the interests
of Miss USA contestants, the host city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and
viewers in making its decision, it made no mention of Trump or the hot
water he's found himself in since he announced his presidential bid in
June.
The
statement also did not include details on how Reelz acquired the rights
to broadcast the pageant that is a joint venture between Trump and NBC,
as is Miss Universe. NBC cited Trump's comments on immigrants in
announcing it is cutting business ties with him.
Trump's
presidential campaign announcement contained his assertion that some
Mexican immigrants to the United States bring drugs and crime, and some
are rapists.
Trump declined to comment on the Reelz acquisition.
This
isn't the first time Reelz has gone its own way. When the History
channel dropped "The Kennedys" miniseries that had been made for it,
saying it didn't fit its brand, Reelz aired it in 2011 and was rewarded
with record channel ratings and awards attention.
Reelz
said the Miss USA pageant will be televised July 12, its originally
scheduled date on NBC. The pageant will have to scramble after a mass
exodus of performers, hosts and judges who cited opposition to Trump's
views as the reason.
Rapper
Flo Rida had been the highest profile performer scheduled for Miss USA,
and his representative confirmed Wednesday that he wouldn't perform.
Country singer Craig Wayne Boyd, winner of "The Voice" last year, and
pop singer Natalie La Rose also dropped out. There were no more
announced performers.
In
a Miss USA news release last month, the judges were listed as HGTV star
Jonathan Scott, country singer Jessie James Decker, E! News anchor
Terrence Jenkins, TV host and former Miss Universe winner Zuleyka Rivera
and Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith.
Of
that quintet, only Decker's name was listed as a judge by Miss USA on
its website Wednesday. That's the day Smith dropped out.
The
pageant lost both of its co-hosts, Cheryl Burke of "Dancing With the
Stars" and MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts, on Tuesday. On Wednesday,
Jeannie Mai, who hosted a show on the Style Network, was listed as a
show host.
Last
week, the hosts of the now-abandoned Univision Spanish-language
simulcast, Roselyn Sanchez and Cristian de la Fuente, said they wouldn't
take part in it.
Trump's
campaign comments struck many Latinos as insensitive, and Univision's
decision last week to back out of televising Miss USA and break off its
business ties with Trump led to a cascade of others following suit.
Trump responded by suing Univision on Tuesday.
Aside from the pageant world, there has growing fallout on other fronts for the GOP presidential hopeful and businessman.
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