Update: Olivia Jordan of Oklahoma was crowned Miss USA on Sunday. Watch the full video below for the recap of the 2015 Miss USA Pageant.
The 64th Miss USA pageant Miss USA 2015 will be held on Sunday, July 12, 2015, beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PST, at the Baton Rouge River Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Miss USA 2014 Nia Sanchez of Nevada will crown her successor at the end of the event. All fifty states and District of Columbia will compete. The winner will represent the USA in the Miss Universe 2015 competition.
Following Donald Trump's inflammatory remarks on Mexican immigrants, Miss USA pageant were dropped by key television broadcast partners Univision and NBC, leaving many wondering how they can watch the Miss USA 2015 on television or the web. As a result, Miss USA president announced that the show will be broadcasted live online for the first time, and later Reelz picked up the broadcasting rights. Miss USA 2015 live stream can be watched online through the live stream link below.
As Trump is co-owner of Miss Universe Organization, a joint venture with NBC Universal, his comments received strong backlashes from the Hispanic community.
"When do we beat Mexico at the border?" asked Trump. "They're laughing at us, at our stupidity. And now they are beating us economically. They are not our friend, believe me. But they're killing us economically."
He added, "The U.S. has become a dumping ground for everybody else's problems. When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're not sending you. They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."
Donald Trump's comments first led to Univision breaking ties with Trump Organization and dropping the Miss USA pageant on July after the television company considered the views of their Spanish-speaking audiences and their employee base, which is 80 percent Mexicans.
NBC Universal and Macy's have distanced themselves with Trump and have suspended their contracts with the presidential candidate. Celebrities, including Miss Universe 2014 Paulina Vega of Colombia, have voiced their anger at Trump's 'racist' remarks.
"I find Mr. Trump's comments unjust and hurtful. As a Colombian and as Miss Universe, I want to show my support and validate the sentiments of the Latin community," Vega posted on her Instagram account,
While expressing disapproval to Trump's remarks, Vega pointed out that Miss Universe Organize works independently from their owner and have built an inspirational legacy of uniting countries from around the world.
"For the past 64 years, they have created partnerships with great charity groups and have helped thousands of communities," she added. "If the Miss Universe Organization shared any anti-Latin sentiments or any type of racial biases, I wouldn't be in this position today."
Original hosts Cheryl Burke, Thomas Roberts, and Jeannie Mai declined to host this year's Miss USA to join a chorus of voices against Trump's statement.
Mai wrote on her Instagram that she "condemn" Trump's comments and find them "immensely offensive." While she had initially decided to stay on Miss USA 2015 under the impression that Trump would no longer be involved in the production of the show, she later withdrew her decision to co-host Miss USA after seeing Trump's most recent episode with the current Miss Universe.
"It is clear that Mr. Trump's actions have and will continue to distract focus away from the real stars of the show - the women involved in the pageant," she wrote. "Therefore, I am respectfully withdrawing from my responsibilities and commitment as co-host of Miss USA."
Several other key participants also decided to drop out. They include Cristián De La Fuente, who was to host Miss USA pageant in a simulcast in Spanish for UniMás, Roselyn Sánchez, who was also to co-host the event, and Zuleyka Riversa, who was going to sit in the panel of judges for Miss USA.
Meanwhile, Trump told Fox News he was surprised with the backlash he received, but insisted that he will continue to stand by his words.
"The crime is raging and it's violent. And if you talk about it, it's racist," Trump said, referring to the death of 32-year-old Kathryn Steinle, who was killed in broad daylight at the San Francisco Pier 39 by a Mexican illegal immigrant Francisco Sanchez, who has been deported five times already.
Current Miss USA crown holder Nia Sanchez also weighed in on this issue and released a video through Miss USA's Facebook page to support Miss Universe Organization.
"While NBC and Donald Trump are in the pageant, we have many owners over the years. In fact, the pageant started when Donald Trump was only five years old. So While I do not agree with many of the things that were said, especially in regard to immigration, I'm part Mexian afterall, what I do believe in is the pageant. We have wonderful small business owners that make up our franchisee systems and we have wonderful contestants who enter the contest every year to better themselves and others, and of course our fans that make it all possible.
We are a platform to empower women across the world and we celebrate diversity, and the show is going to go on."
Despite the ongoing controversy, Reelz took over the broadcast rights of the Miss Universe Pageants after NBC dropped the show, and will broadcast the event online through free live stream, which is the first time for the pageant.
Reelz has signed up Daytime Emmy winning TV presenter 2001 Miss Universe presenter Todd Newton, 2009 Miss USA Wisconsin Alex Wehrley and "OK! TV" host Julia Alexandria to host this year's Miss USA.
In addition, 8 contestants of Hispanic descent will be competing for the crown, and Nia Sanchez, who is part Mexican and part German, will be handing the Miss USA 2015 crown to her successor on July 12 as the pageant airs live on Reelz Channel, starting at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. Go to Reelz.com to find the Reelz channel near you.
The Miss USA 2015 pageant live broadcast can also be watched in free live stream online by clicking here.
