NBC Fires Trump from The Apprentice Following Racist Comments About Mexican Immigrants

NBCUniversal announces on June 29, 2015, that it is ending its business relationship with Donald Trump, firing him from “The Apprentice” and cancelling the Trump-produced Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants in response to Trump’s racist comments about Mexican immigrants during his presidential campaign announcement two weeks earlier. The decision follows a petition signed by over 200,000 people and comes despite Trump’s highly profitable 11-year relationship with the network.

Trump’s Racist Campaign Launch

On June 16, 2015, Trump announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination with a speech characterizing Mexican immigrants in explicitly racist terms: “They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists.” The comments sparked immediate controversy and calls for NBC to end its relationship with Trump, who was still under contract to host “Celebrity Apprentice” and co-owned the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants with NBC.

More than 200,000 people signed a Change.org petition calling on NBC to choose “ethics, principles and values” over business interests in the wake of Trump’s comments. The petition argued that NBC was prioritizing financial relationships over moral responsibility by continuing to work with Trump after such blatantly racist statements.

NBC’s Official Statement

After nearly two weeks of deliberation and mounting public pressure, NBC releases an official statement: “At NBC, respect and dignity for all people are cornerstones of our values. Due to the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding immigrants, NBCUniversal is ending its business relationship with Mr. Trump.”

The statement specifies that the annual Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants, which were part of a joint venture between NBC and Trump, would no longer air on NBC. Trump would also not be participating in “The Apprentice” on NBC. The decision effectively ends an 11-year relationship that had been highly profitable for both parties, with Trump earning an estimated $214 million from 14 seasons of the show.

Univision had announced its own decision to drop the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants several days earlier on June 25, citing Trump’s “insulting remarks about Mexican immigrants.”

Trump’s Response and Legal Threats

Trump responds characteristically by threatening to sue NBC for breach of contract and claiming that NBC is acting improperly. He insists his comments were about illegal immigration and border security, not about all Mexican immigrants, despite the clear language of his announcement speech. Trump also claims he was already planning to leave “Celebrity Apprentice” due to his presidential campaign, attempting to reframe being fired as his own decision.

Trump follows through on threats to sue Univision for $500 million for breach of contract, though the case is eventually settled. He later sells his stake in the Miss Universe Organization to entertainment company WME/IMG.

Significance: A Turning Point

NBC’s decision to fire Trump represents a significant moment where overt racism temporarily carries meaningful consequences in American business and entertainment. The network determines that Trump’s explicit racist characterizations cross a line that cannot be ignored, despite the financial value of their relationship. The decision demonstrates that—at least in 2015—major American corporations still perceive public association with overt racism as a business liability worth avoiding.

However, the incident also reveals the limitations of such corporate accountability. NBC’s action only comes after significant public pressure and petition drives, not as an immediate response to the racist comments themselves. The network waits nearly two weeks before acting, suggesting extensive internal deliberation about the financial versus reputational costs. This hesitancy indicates that the decision is more about brand management than genuine ethical stance.

More significantly, NBC’s decision to sever ties does nothing to impede Trump’s political ascent. If anything, the controversy generates additional media attention for his campaign and reinforces his image among supporters as someone willing to “speak uncomfortable truths” that the “politically correct” establishment rejects. Within 18 months, Trump would win the Republican nomination and the presidency, demonstrating that actions carrying consequences in entertainment and business contexts face no similar accountability in electoral politics.

The episode also highlights the role that NBC and “The Apprentice” played in creating the Trump political phenomenon in the first place. By spending 11 years presenting Trump as a successful, decisive business leader—an image that contradicted his actual business record—NBC helped create the public persona that made Trump’s presidential run viable. The network’s decision to cut ties in 2015 came far too late to undo the damage of 14 seasons of image rehabilitation.

NBC’s firing of Trump would prove to be the entertainment industry’s last significant attempt to impose consequences for his behavior before he assumed the presidency. The pattern established here—overt racism generating temporary controversy followed by political advancement—would repeat throughout his campaign and presidency.