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Randy Falco

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30 Jun, 2015

Sues Univision for $500 million

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Trump sues Univision for $500 million in New York State Supreme Court for breach of contract and defamation, over a $13.5 million contract for broadcast rights to Trump’s Miss Universe Organization pageants. The parties had reached an agreement in January that included the rights to broadcast the Miss USA, Miss Teen USA and the Miss Universe competition from 2015 through 2019. Univision agreed to pay $2.5 million per year until 2017, and $3 million per year for 2018 and 2019, and to make “reasonable efforts” to broadcast it over two to three hours on a Sunday night. Trump says Univision’s’ decision not to broadcast the pageant is politically motivated and an attempt to suppress his freedom of speech:

Nothing that I stated was different from what I have been saying for many years. I want strong borders, and I do not support or condone illegal immigration.

He also says a high-ranking Univision executive called him, claiming that Univision had been “inundated with calls demanding that Univision immediately terminate its relationship” with Trump after his remarks and that they could “no longer sell” the pageant to its sponsors or viewers. Trump also claims the executive apologized to him for pulling the pageant, and that the network had decided to simply pay the Miss Universe Organization its $13.5 million in licensing fees. In a memo to staff Univision CEO Falco denies apologizing to Trump:

I can also assure you that we never apologized because we have nothing to apologize for.