NBC Universal Dumps Donald Trump Over Mexico ‘Rapist’ Remarks

Donald Trump speaks during a gun rights rally at the Empire State Plaza on Tuesday, April 1, 2014, in Albany, N.Y. Activists are seeking a repeal of a 2013 state law that outlawed the sales of some popular guns like ... Donald Trump speaks during a gun rights rally at the Empire State Plaza on Tuesday, April 1, 2014, in Albany, N.Y. Activists are seeking a repeal of a 2013 state law that outlawed the sales of some popular guns like the AR-15. The law championed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been criticized as unconstitutional by some gun rights activists. (AP Photo/Mike Groll) MORE LESS
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NBC Universal has severed its business relationship with reality-TV star and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

The network announced it was “ending its business relationship” with Trump after the magnate railed against Mexican immigrants in his presidential announcement speech, calling them “rapists” and drug dealers.

NBC emailed TPM the statement on Monday:

At NBC, respect and dignity for all people are cornerstones of our values.

Due to the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding immigrants, NBC 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 Celebrity Apprentice” on NBC.

“Celebrity Apprentice” is licensed from Mark Burnett’s United Artists Media Group and that relationship will continue.

In a statement to reporters captured by CNN on Monday, Trump said that while he had “a great relationship with them,” NBC “didn’t want me to run, because they wanted to do the Apprentice.”

“As long as I’m running for president, they were not happy with it,” he continued, “and now with my statements on immigration, which happen to be correct, they are gonna take a different stance, and that’s okay. Whatever they wanna do is okay with me.”

“As far as ending the relationship, I have to do that. Because my view on immigration is much different than the people at NBC,” he concluded.

Trump’s office also released a statement calling NBC “weak” and mentioning former “Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams, who was demoted after being caught telling bogus stories on air.

“They will stand behind lying Brian Williams, but won’t stand behind people that tell it like it is,” Trump said in the statement.

Statement on Relationship with NBC-

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

Spanish-language broadcaster Univsion was the first to break ties with Trump on Friday, saying it would not air his Miss USA pageant.

Trump stood by his comments in an interview with Fox News and threatened to sue Univision for breach of contract.

This post has been updated.

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