Donald Trump and the reigning Miss Universe Paulina Vega (Photo credit: Getty Images and Dailymail of UK)
In an
article posted by Josh Kosman in the New York Post, it made mention of Donald Trump’s plans of selling his 49% percent stake in the Miss Universe Organization. I don’t want to think that he’s just teasing. After all, his US Presidential bid should hold more weight than anything else in his business Empire right now, and persistently holding on to the pageants will not be that advisable anymore considering all the public backlash that the collective crowns have suffered as a result of his attacks against Mexican immigrants.
Below is the said article. Click HERE if you want to see the original.
Donald Trump is ready to ditch the tiara.
The real-estate magnate is exploring a sale of his 49 percent stake in the Miss Universe Organization after NBC and Univision dumped the beauty pageant business over remarks he made about Mexican immigrants in announcing his run for president last month, The Post has learned.
Trump is mulling a sale after getting approached by several interested parties, said a source close to the situation. NBCUniversal co-owns Miss Universe, which also includes the Miss American and Miss Teen pageants.
NBC and Spanish-language broadcaster Univision refused to air the Miss USA pageant, as scheduled, on July 12. Niche cable network Reelz picked up the rights.
The pageant drew just 925,000 viewers on Reelz, down sharply from the 5.6 million viewers who watched the show on NBC in 2014, according to Nielsen data.
Trump has sued Univision in New York state court for $500 million over its decision to drop the pageant programming and plans to file a similar suit against NBC, a source said.
But the fallout could not have come at a worse time for Miss Universe
While Trump didn’t start the Miss USA pageant, he did come up with the idea of turning it into franchise business. Franchisees who buy the rights to hold state contests are busy preparing for pageant season that kicks off in the fall.
In New York, Debbie Miller and Cindy Provost are trying to sign up sponsors and contestants, who pay to participate. The Miss New York USA and Miss New York Teen USA contests are scheduled for Jan. 15 to 17 in West Harrison. Franchisees will have a harder time attracting interest if there is no hope for the local winner to get on broadcast television.
“There have been some [local] sponsors that showed concern,” actress Shanna Moakler, who also runs the Nevada Miss USA and Miss Teen pageants, told The Post.
The organization can rebound if Trump sells or finds new broadcast partners willing to replace NBC and Univision, she added.
“I’m hoping within the next couple of months they figure out what to do with the franchise,” Moakler said. “It’s really critical something takes place in the next couple of months.”
She said she makes a small amount of money from the pageant after accounting for the franchise fee she pays.
“Right now I think it would be best if we sold to another person because his comments were so polarizing,” said Moakler, who has a teenage daughter with Mexican-American boxer Oscar De La Hoya.
‘They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us,” Trump said during his presidential announcement speech. They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.’ “
Moakler said she supported the organization over the past month because the contest is about the women and not its owners.
“I am not going to allow comments made in the political arena impact my girls.”
Share your thoughts, dear readers. After all, the future of Miss Universe Organization is very likely to rest on the decision Donald Trump will arrive at, based on cashing in on his shares in the same.
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1999 was bittersweet for all its worth for Bb. Pilipinas. Bitter because for the second consecutive year (<em>and third overall if I’m not mistaken</em>), the crowned winner of the Bb. Pilipinas Universe title – Janelle Bautista – was dethroned because of citizenship problems. Sweet because – in her place – the original Bb. Pilipinas World Miriam Quiambao took over and went on to place 1st Runner-Up to Mpule Kwelagobe of Botswana in Trinidad and Tobago. Up to now, I really feel that Donald Trump gave the thumbs-up for Miss Philippines to win that year. The Final 3 Q&A, though, really got into the nerves of Miriam and had to be happy with her placement – the first ever second-place finish for the Philippines in Miss Universe. As for Lalaine Edson getting promoted to Bb. Pilipinas World, I really had my reservations because she was just this fair-skinned halfie who must have been greatly helped by the influence of the late German Moreno in getting a crown in the first place. 2nd Runner-Up Joelle Pelaez or 1st Runner-Up Michelle Arcangel were more deserving in my opinion. And we all know now what happened to Lalaine in London for Miss World – during especially after the competition when she went “missing” and was reported to have been “kidnapped” by a foreigner-lover and forced into marriage. I bet our regulars here know more about those mysterious circumstances.
