Original hosts Cheryl Burke, the ex- “Dancing With the Stars” pro who now hosts NBC’s “I Can Do That”, and MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts had earlier announced they would not be participating.
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A long list of sponsors chose to cut ties with him and the NBC network along with Univision. Along with studying for her law-school courses and training for Miss U.S.A., she’s traveled to 10 states since being crowned Miss Louisiana U.S.A. 2015, tirelessly honoring appearance commitments, granting interviews, and attending philanthropic events.
The split with Trump follows similar decisions by NBCUniversal, Univision Communications Inc., Grupo Televisa SAB and Serta.
They join the pageant amid ongoing controversy surrounding its co-owner, Donald Trump.
Trump has also attracted wrath for many other remarks, resulting in anger at his political platform.
Trump upset gay rights groups when he compared gay marriage to golf in February 2013.
The Republican presidential candidate and The Professional Golfers Association “mutually agreed” to pull the 2016 Grand Slam of Golf from Trump’s Los Angeles course. The Puerto Rican superstar withdrew his the annual Ricky Martin Foundation charity golf tournament from the Trump global Golf Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.
“The decision on the part of REELZ to acquire the rights to the Miss US Pageant was based on our belief that this special event, and the women who compete in it, are an integral part of American tradition”, Stan E. Hubbard, CEO of Reelz, said in a statement. Its chief executive said he disagreed with Trump’s comments but admired the pageant.
In the short time since he launched his presidential campaign Donald Trump has put on a display of dramatics worthy of a reality show. “It gives an opportunity to spotlight the contestants and show the world and the nation that we’re more than just beauty queens-we come from all different backgrounds, have all different career ambitions”. They said they’re proud of their roots and hoped the pageant would shed light on the contributions of immigrants. Martinez told ET her mother had arrived in the United States at the age of 12.
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But the women who spoke to the AP said they were determined to remain in the pageant and compete despite their personal feelings about Trump’s comments.
