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Miss Universe 2015 Judge Disses Donald Trump, Thankful Presidential Candidate No Longer Owns Pageant

By Val Powell
Published on: 21:52 PST, Dec 20, 2015

It was a majestic evening in Las Vegas on Sunday night as it hosted the Miss Universe 2015 Coronation Night at THE AXIS.

During the course of the event, co-host Roselyn Sanchez asked the judges what it was like to become part of the event. She asked blogger and TV personality Perez Hilton the difference between judging the Miss USA pageants and Miss Universe.

Perez, 37, then states two differences: One is that more people watch Miss Universe, and second, he is thankful that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is no longer the pageant owner.

“Well, the two big differences is one: A lot more people are watching Miss Universe. And, number two: Thankfully, Donald Trump no longer owns this pageant,” he said.

Perez Hilton Blasts Donald Trump on Miss Universe 2015

Sanchez, together with other judges, were slightly surprised that Hilton said it without batting an eyelash. Still, she just replied with “He said it. Thank you for that, Perez.”

While the jab may be seen as unwarranted to some, the audience actually went wild after that response, seemingly affirming what Perez had said.

Since 2002, 69-year-old Trump has co-owned the Miss Universe pageant together with NBC Universal. Other pageants that he partly owned include Miss USA and Miss Teen USA.

However, due to his controversial statements about illegal immigration and some racist remarks in his nationwide campaign, NBC canceled all of its business relationships with the pageant, as well as with Trump.

As a result, Donald Trump bought back 50 percent of the remaining stake by NBC, which made him the sole owner, but then sold it to WWE-IMG in September.

“I have truly enjoyed owning the Miss Universe, Miss USA, and Miss Teen USA pageants. When I purchased the pageants many years ago, they were in serious trouble. It has been a great honor making them so successful,” Donald Trump said in a statement after selling the pageants.

“The pageants are now in the hands of a great company that will shepherd them to even greater levels of success,” he added.

Under its new ownership, the Miss Universe 2015 pageant was aired live on Fox as part of the deal.

Trump even promoted the pageant on social media by informing his followers that it would broadcast on Sunday night on Fox.

The Miss Universe, as well as the other pageants, is just one of the businesses that Trump has lost or sold during his presidential campaign. Due to his call to ban Muslims from entering the United States, some of his Muslim business partners in the Middle East have already withdrawn their support as well.

As a result of the September deal, this is the first year that Miss Universe did not air on NBC, but on Fox and Azteca America instead.

As usual, it was all business for the Miss Universe coronation night, which began with the showcase of the national costumes of the 80 delegates. However, no one knew that an hour and a half into the show, Hilton would throw some shade on Trump and his previous ownership of the pageant.

However, it seems like everyone was okay with it, and host Steve Harvey just brought the crowd and viewers’ attention back to the gorgeous candidates.

This year’s coronation night was also filled with controversy as the Family Feud host mistakenly announced Ariadna Gutierrez of Colombia as Miss Universe, when in fact it was Miss Philippines’ Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach that bagged the crown.

Steve Harvey Makes A Blunder On Miss Universe 2015

He later went back onstage to proclaim Wurtzbach as this year’s Miss Universe.

While there are people who see the incident as a publicity stunt for the pageant, an apology has been issued by Harvey for the blunder he made during the Miss Universe pageant.

[Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]

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