Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne announced today the Louisiana Office of Tourism is reducing by half its $50,000 commitment to the Miss USA pageant, following a significant reduction in anticipated television viewership.
“The pageant was a tremendous success with a significant number of visitors from throughout the nation spending 10 days exploring Baton Rouge and surrounding areas,” Dardenne says in a prepared statement. “At the same time, we believe our payment must be reduced for it to be an appropriate expenditure for taxpayers.”
TV viewership of the Miss USA pageant dropped sharply this year after NBC and Univision decided not to broadcast the pageant because of controversial statements made by pageant owner and GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump about Mexican immigrants.
While the state Office of the Tourism is reducing its payment to the pageant by $25,000, the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing board will pay the $15,000 it committed to the Miss Universe organization, Dardenne says.
Earlier today, Visit Baton Rouge CEO Paul Arrigo told Daily Report his organization has not yet decided whether to pay the remaining $75,000 of the $175,000 it committed to the pageant.
