Olivia Jordan, Miss Oklahoma, was crowned the 2015 winner of the Miss USA pageant Sunday night.
The pageant broadcast went off without a hitch despite having been embroiled in controversy created by pageant co-owner and presidential hopeful Donald Trump’s controversial remarks about Mexican immigrants.
NBC and Spanish-language broadcaster Univision dropped the pageant in June following comments made by Trump at a campaign event in which he referred to undocumented immigrants as “rapists.” Reelz picked up the pageant’s broadcast rights for “no more than $100,000,” as TheWrap reported exclusively.
Pageant co-host Todd Newton appeared to reference the controversy at the top of the broadcast, when he welcomed viewers to “what has become the most anticipated and what will be the greatest night in recent pageant history.”
Trump was not in attendance at Sunday’s ceremony, however, claiming he was too busy campaigning. “I will not be able to attend the Miss USA pageant tomorrow night because I am campaigning in Phoenix. Wishing all well!” he tweeted Saturday.
Reelz CEO Stan E. Hubbard told TheWrap that the network “does not endorse Trump’s comments regarding Mexicans. Hubbard, whose father Stanley Hubbard is a regular donor to Republican political campaigns, added, “I am not a supporter of Donald Trump’s for president.”
Trump has stated that he will seek legal action against both NBC and Univision, with his legal team hitting Univision with a $500 million lawsuit for refusing to air the pageant. The complaint claims that Univision agreed to pay a total of $13.5 million in licensing fees for the pageant over the next five years.
Jordan is a graduate of Boston University, where she earned a B.S. in health science. She has appeared in both national and international commercials, and recently appeared in “Hot Tub Time Machine 2.” She claims to have watched every episode of “Friends” at least three times.