NOTE: Graphic language below
Last week, a leaked video from 2005 put Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in danger, but he wasn’t the only one trying to recover.
The video reveals a conversation between Trump and then-Access Hollywood host Billy Bush talking crudely about objectifying women, grabbing their genitals and making unwanted sexual advances about Nancy O’Dell and Arianne Zucker.
Bush, who just joined Today as an anchor in May 2016, apologized hours after The Washington Post published the video. “Obviously I’m embarrassed and ashamed,” Bush said in a statement released by NBC News on Oct. 7. “It’s no excuse, but this happened 11 years ago — I was younger, less mature and acted foolishly in playing along. I’m very sorry.”
WATCH BELOW: Donald Trump caught making vulgar comments about women in 2005 leaked tape
Two days later, NBC announced that Bush was suspended from the Today show indefinitely. Savannah Guthrie briefly addressed Bush’s absence on the Oct. 10 episode of Today. “We want to note one other thing: Pending further review of the matter, NBC News has suspended Billy Bush as the host of Today’s third hour for his role in that conversation with Donald Trump,” she said.
On Oct. 10, NBC announced that Carson Daly, who serves as Today’s social media correspondent, would be co-hosting the show’s 9 a.m. hour with Hall. He began on Oct. 11, and his temporary position will likely continue until Bush’s suspension is over.
READ MORE: Martin Sheen: Donald Trump is a ‘self-serving, arrogant, stupid lunatic’
Bush and NBC are now negotiating his exit from NBC News, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“Let me be clear — there is simply no excuse for Billy’s language and behaviour on that tape,” Today senior vice-president Noah Oppenheim wrote. “NBC has decided to suspend Billy, pending further review of this matter.”
CNN reports that one source told the news channel that the network will announce Bush’s departure “in the coming days.”
WATCH BELOW: ‘Entertainment Tonight’ host Nancy O’Dell addresses leaked Trump tape
According to Page Six, Bush told numerous people at a party while in Brazil that he had “a tape of Trump being a real dog.” Bush allegedly never told his bosses at NBC News about the tape.
“Billy was bragging about the tape to other NBC staff while in Rio. If he knew about the tape, and remembered the full extent of such an explosive conversation with a presidential candidate and didn’t disclose that to NBC News, that is a very, very serious problem,” the publication reports.
NBC Universal claims Access Hollywood reported the tape to NBC News on Oct. 3.
Although there is no confirmation as to who leaked the footage, a source told People that it was both “purposeful” and “not a low-level leak.”
NBC News Vice-President of Communications Mark Kornblau tweeted, “No chance that tape would ever have been edited by @NBCNews. Period.”
READ MORE: Amber Tamblyn shares horrifying sexual assault story in response to Trump tape
The 11-year-old video has created a lot of controversy surrounding Bush, but Jamie Lee Curtis and Piers Morgan were among the Hollywoodites who defended the television host.
READ MORE: Carrie Fisher retracts comment on Donald Trump’s ‘sniffles’ and cocaine
Bush’s former Access Hollywood co-host Kit Hoover got emotional during Monday’s episode while defending her friend: “Those tapes were a decade ago and it was seven minutes of someone’s life, and all I can tell you is what I know and the person that I sat next to for the last six years, and that person for me is a totally different person,” she said, adding, “The Billy that I know and a lot of people would say has the biggest heart of anybody, and he is a good person.”
Kate Walsh appeared on Good Day D.C. on Oct. 10 and said, “I think that Billy has a great opportunity to correct this. I think it’s very odd that we have someone who’s said what Donald Trump has said, and is still able to run for president, and that NBC has taken the action to suspend Billy Bush. I know Billy, and I know that he is accountable and that he is an amazing father and husband and friend, and he will step forward and discuss this.”
According to Us, Bush was devastated when he heard that the tape had leaked. “He was crying that his career was over,” the publication reports and, he’s already been edited out of Today show promos.
READ MORE: Donald Trump apologizes for saying he ‘can do anything’ to women in leaked 2005 video
Others reacted only to Trump’s misogynistic remarks and dismissed Bush from the equation.
The statement on the Trump campaign’s website reads that Bill Clinton “has said far worse to me on the golf course.” But actor Dax Shepard pointed out that Clinton had to face consequences for his actions.
Comments