Donald Trump has filed a USD 500 million lawsuit against Univision after the company cancelled its planned telecast of the July 12 Miss USA beauty pageant to protest his controversial remakrs about Mexican immigrants.
The Miss Universe Organization said the suit was filed Tuesday in New York State Supreme Court.
Univision called the lawsuit "factually false and legally ridiculous," reported Variety.
"Nothing that I stated was different from what I have been saying for many years. I want strong borders, and I do not support or condone illegal immigration," Trump said defending his comments.
The businessman had sparked outrage with the comments that he made while announcing his GOP presidential nomination where he described Mexican immigrants as criminals and rapists.
Univision decided to severe its ties with Trump following his comments, NBC followed suit five days later by scrapping the planned July 12 live telecast of the pageant after more than a decade of close association.
In a statement, the company said they will "vigorously defend the case"
"We just reviewed Mr Trump's complaint for the first time, and it is both 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," Univision said in a statement.
The lawsuit seeks USD 500 million in damages for breach of contract, defamation and intentional interference with a contractual relationship.
