Donald Trump Files $500 Million Lawsuit Against Univision, Claims Univision Violated His First Amendment Rights

Donald Trump has announced that he is suing Univision for $500 million after the network cut ties with Trump’s Miss USA Pageant following his offensive comments on immigration.

Donald Trump Files $500 Million Lawsuit Against Univision

Univision had a contract with the Trump-run Miss USA Pageant to air the show, but the company severed ties with the pageant after Trump said that Mexican immigrants were criminals and “rapists” in his announcement speech. NBC, the American network planning to air the Miss USA Pageant, also cut ties with Trump.

On Thursday, June 25, Univision announced the news in a press release, writing that they were “ending the Company’s business relationship with the Miss Universe Organization, which is part-owned by Donald J Trump, based on his recent, insulting remarks about Mexican immigrants.”

“At Univision, we see first-hand the work ethic, love for family, strong religious values and the important role Mexican immigrants and Mexican-Americans have had and will continue to have in building the future of our country. We will not be airing the Miss USA pageant on July 12th or working on any other projects tied to the Trump Organization,” the statement continued.

Trump upset the Latino community during his announcement speech when he singled out Mexican immigrants as bringing “problems” to America. “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best… They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing their problems with [them]. They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people,” Trump stated in his announcement speech.

Trump’s exact statements have been called offensive, derogatory and racist, and the business mogul and Presidential hopeful has stood by his words. In fact, he is so unapologetic that he doubled down on his statements and has announced plans to file a $500 million lawsuit against Univision for alleged breach of contract.

Trump Lawsuit Claims Univision Violated His First Amendment Rights

Trump detailed the suit in a press release on Tuesday, June 30, stating that the suit had been filed in New York State Supreme Court. Trump alleges that top executives at Univision were pressured to drop the Miss USA pageant by Mexican government officials, and claims that the network’s breach of contract is a violation of his First Amendment right. “Under the contract, Univision is required to broadcast the pageant live on television in Spanish. While Univision claims its decision came solely in response to the comments by Mr. Trump during a June 16, 2015, campaign speech announcing his candidacy for President of the United States, the decision was, in reality, a politically motivated attempt to suppress Mr. Trump’s freedom of speech under the First Amendment as he begins to campaign for the nation’s presidency,” read the press release.

In his statement, Trump tried to turn his offensive statements into a convoluted compliment to Mexican officials, saying, “I have great respect for Mexico and love for the Mexican people and their tremendous spirit! However, their leaders and trade negotiators are far smarter than those representing the United States, and our citizens and economy are suffering greatly as a result.”

Trump also tried to shame Univision and NBC for their actions, claiming they “abandoned fifty one wonderful young women” in the Miss USA Pageant. Furthermore, Trump claims that Univision never officially terminated their contract with him, but did so indirectly through a press release. Trump shared his statement on the $500 million lawsuit against Univision on Instagram with the caption, “My just filed lawsuit against Univision. Always fight back when right.”

Trump has also hinted that he plans on suing NBC as well, telling Bill O’Reilly on The O’Reilly Factor that the alleged higher ups Trump claimed called him to tell him about his firing would be identified “in litigation.”

In a statement released after NBC cut ties with him, Trump called NBC “weak” and promised to take them to court, saying, “If NBC is so weak and so foolish to not understand the serious illegal immigration problem in the United States, couples with the horrendous and unfair trade deals we are making with Mexico, then their contract violating closure of Miss Universe/Miss USA will be determined in court.” 

Univision Responds To Lawsuit, Macy’s Drops Trump

Univision has responded to Trump’s suit, calling it “factually false and legally ridiculous.”

“We will not only vigorously defend the case, but will continue to fight against Mr. Trump’s ongoing efforts to run away from the derogatory comments he made on June 16th about Mexican immigrants. Our decision to end our business relationship with Mr. Trump was influenced solely by our responsibility to speak up for the community we serve,” Univision stated.

Trump offended many during his presidential campaign announcement, and is quickly losing support from companies and sponsors. Most recently, Macy’s announced that they, too, would be cutting ties with Trump and would no longer be selling his merchandise. “We are disappointed and distressed by recent remarks about immigrants from Mexico. We do not believe the disparaging characterizations portray an accurate picture of the many Mexicans, Mexican Americans and Latinos who have made so many valuable contributions to the success of our nation,” Macy’s said in a statement.  

Donald Trump Calls For Macy’s Boycott

Trump responded and refuted the company’s claim that they were the ones to dismiss Trump, saying that he decided to pull his products from the shelves at Macy’s “because of the pressure being put on them by outside sources.”

Trump added that he is happy that his merchandise will no longer be sold, as it was made in China. “I have never been happy about the fact that the ties and shirts are made in China, and should I start a new product line somewhere in the future, I would insist that they are made in America. Quite frankly, I was never satisfied with manufacturing my product in China,” he stated.

Trump also attacked Macy’s and NBC for caving to “special interest groups” and accused them of “[supporting] illegal immigration, which is totally detrimental to the fabric of our once great country.” Despite Trump’s claims that he terminated his relationship with Macy’s, he followed up his statement by calling for a Macy’s boycott on Twitter, calling Macy’s “weak on border security & stopping illegal immigration.”