(AP Photo)
Despite local officials’ attempts to the contrary, a black cloud will hang over the 2015 Miss USA Pageant when it hits the Baton Rouge River Center on July 12.
The storm began brewing June 17, when pageant co-owner and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, in his campaign kickoff speech, accused Mexican immigrants of bringing drugs and crime into the United States.
Trump’s typical brashness offended TV networks NBC and Univision, which canceled their live broadcasts of the pageant. Co-hosts Cheryl Burke and Thomas Roberts also backed out of their commitments, following in the footsteps of Colombian singer J Balvin, according to media reports. Trump himself has doubled down, filing a $500 million lawsuit against Univision for breach of contract. He says he is considering the same against NBC.
Meanwhile, East Baton Rouge Parish and state officials spent the ensuing week trying to soften the blow from the fiasco, which will include far less exposure during what was expected to be a glorious showcase for Baton Rouge.
Whether those officials made any direct pleas to NBC or Univision to reconsider their actions, or to Trump to apologize, is unclear. What is clear, however, is that local leaders are trying to make the best of a crisis out of the state and city-parish’s control.
Mayor Kip Holden and Visit Baton Rouge President and CEO Paul Arrigo released a joint statement saying they were “disappointed with recent events” but wanted to make sure the Miss USA contestants, their families and tourists would experience Baton Rouge “in the best way possible.”
“We know all of our locals will roll out the red carpet for our guests as they visit the unique attractions throughout the region,” the joint statement reads.
Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne says in a statement that the state’s planned events for the pageant will move forward. He also says he is keeping in touch with Miss USA officials to evaluate the situation “before committing additional state resources.”
Metro Councilman John Delgado says the pullout “robs Baton Rouge of our ability to put ourselves in front of the country and the world in the same positive light that we were put in during last year’s pageant.” Delgado also sent a letter June 30 to William Daniel, the city-parish’s chief administrative officer, asking city-parish officials to withhold any payments from the city due to Miss USA BR Productions, the company overseeing the pageant’s production, because of the ongoing situation.
Whether the city-parish or state can recoup any money lost because of the broadcast cancellation remains to be seen. The city-parish had inked a deal in which it agreed to fork over $280,000 for the production. The contract, however, does not require Baton Rouge to secure a global broadcast, leaving the city with few options for recovery.
Miss USA says the show will still go on no matter what, and reports indicate the pageant will be aired by ReelzChannel and will stream online for viewers. But the pageant still won’t attract the same 70-
country audience that was exposed to Baton Rouge in 2014.
—Robert Stewart and Steve Sanoski
