Donald Trump

Billy Bush Suspended Indefinitely From ‘Today' Show

The announcement comes after a video release Friday in which Donald Trump was caught engaging in an offensive conversation with Bush about women

NBC on Sunday suspended "Today" show personality Billy Bush indefinitely after he was caught on a videotape from 2005 in a crude conversation about women with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

"Today" Executive Producer Noah Oppenheim said in a memo Sunday that "there is simply no excuse for Billy's language and behavior on that tape." Bush, who hosts the third hour of the "Today" show, has been suspended "pending further review of the matter," Oppenheim said.

NBC announced its decision two days after the videotape from the "Access Hollywood" archives surfaced. Bush was a host for that show in 2005, and he was taped in a hot-mic discussion with Trump when the future presidential nominee was on a Hollywood set to make an appearance on a soap opera.

On the tape, Trump brags about kissing and groping women and trying to have sex with a woman who was not his wife. Bush joins in, laughing at some of Trump's comments and later encouraging an actress to hug Trump.

Bush, 44, has been brutalized on his own Facebook page since the tape surfaced. Hundreds of hostile comments were attached to Bush's last posting Friday — of him distributing a plate of bacon to "Today" viewers outside of the show's studio. "You are sickening!" one woman wrote, in a comment that nearly 5,000 had "liked" through Sunday afternoon.

Bush issued a statement Friday apologizing for his actions.

The tape showed Bush and Trump speaking as the Republican was about to appear on the daytime drama "Days of Our Lives." From the bus they had ridden to the set, Bush pointed out to Trump an actress, Arianne Zucker, who was there to greet them.

Bush called the actress "hot," adding an expletive.

"I've gotta use some Tic Tacs, just in case I start kissing her," Trump said. "You know, I'm automatically attracted to beautiful ... I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything."

"Grab them by the p****. You can do anything," Trump added.

After getting off the bus, Bush asks the actress to hug Trump, then adds, "How about a little hug for the Bushy?"

The married father of three is the nephew of former President George H.W. Bush.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us