Miss Universe fires back at Donald Trump after he called her a 'hypocrite' for keeping her crown
<span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/559aced06bb3f71214804f01-1200-924/miss-universe-paulina-vega.png" border="0" alt="Miss Universe, paulina vega">Miss Universe 2014 Paulina Vega, a Colombian native, fired back at Donald Trump again on Monday after he called the beauty queen a "hypocrite."</span>
<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Vega told Latina Magazine that his reaction is "comical." (emphasis ours)</span>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"The most comical is using the word: hypocrisy. But I think what I'm doing is the least hypocrite thing I can do by using my voice clearly. By not renouncing my crown has nothing to do with what I do or what I don't do. I have a legally binding contract and legal relationship with the organization and it's not so easy for me, like the artists have done, to renounce and say, 'No. I'm not working for you anymore.' I have a contract of 1 year. So it's a much more complicated situation, but we have to understand that Trump is a very polemic person. I'm going to keep going forward and refuse his comments to affect me. Miss Universe the organization and I are much more than what that man says on Twitter."</span>
<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Last week, Vega distanced herself from Trump and his recent comments about Mexico and Latin America in a statement posted on Instagram in both Spanish and English. Here's an excerpt:</span>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span>"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. The Miss Universe Organization works independently from its owners. For the past 64 years, they have created partnerships with great charity groups and have helped thousands of communities. Their legacy of uniting countries from around the world has been inspiring to many. If the Miss Universe Organization shared any anti-Latin sentiments or any type of racial biases, I wouldn't be in this position today. I strongly believe that dividing and categorizing humankind only holds it back. Acknowledging and embracing the differences that exist across humanity is the first step in real and substantial development. We must strive together in order to improve the common good." </span>
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<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Trump, the co-owner of the Miss Universe Organization, responded on Twitter close to 5 a.m. ET on Sunday by calling Vega a "hypocrite" for keeping her crown.</span>
<span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/559ad02e6bb3f7741c804eff-644-207/screen-shot-2015-07-06-at-2.59.09-pm.png" border="0" alt="trump tweet"> </span>
<span style="line-height: 1.5em;"></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Trump has come under fire lately for comments he made during his campaign launch as a GOP presidential hopeful. In his speech, he said that people coming to the US from Mexico are rapists and drug runners. </span>
<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending its best....They're sending people that have lots of problems....They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists...and some, I assume, are good people."</span>
<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">In the days that followed, Trump didn't back down from his comments either. He said that it's </span>"not just Mexico"<span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> but that people could be coming from all over through the border.</span>
<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">As a result, NBC </span>ended its business relationship with Trump. The <span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">hugely-popular, NBCUniversal/Trump-owned Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants, which are both viewed by millions, will no longer air on NBC.</span></span>
<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">In a </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"></span>statement<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, Trump called NBC "weak" and "foolish" and suggested that he'd take NBCUniversal to court over ending its contract with him.</span>
<span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span>Univision also </span>said it wouldn't air the pageants<span> because of Trump's "insulting" comments. Trump has since filed a $500 million lawsuit against Univision.</span></span>
<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Another blow is that </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Mexico has also said that its delegate </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"></span>will not participate in the Miss Universe pageant.
<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">What's more is the Miss Universe Organization appears to have made an attempt to also distance itself from Trump. In a statement, the pageant</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> pointed out that it's an independently-run company that's had many owners over its 64-year history. Trump isn't the one running the show.</span>
<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Even the Miss Universe Organization's president Paula Shugart pointed out that Trump has hardly spent any time with the titleholders.</span>
<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"I think our reigning Miss Universe has been at events with him maybe three times in the last seven months," Shugart told Entertainment Weekly in a recent interview.</span>
<span>The organization also pointed out that this year's Miss USA class</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> includes six Latinas (four of whom are of Mexican d</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">escent). The reigning Miss USA 2014, Nia Sanchez, is also of Mexican decent. </span>
The organization added in its statement: "While world politics and other influences will undoubtedly play a role, the pageant will <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">always seek to transcend controversy. It is unfortunate that recent events beyond our </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">control have only served to negatively impact the women who participate in the </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">pageant, our state directors, our sponsors and our fans."</span>
<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Last week, little-known network ReelzChannel aid it would broadcast the Miss USA pageant on July 12. </span>
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