Billy Bush says he flagged President Donald Trump’s notorious “Access Hollywood” interview again in 2005 however claims NBC executives ignored it to guard their “cash cow.”
Throughout Thursday’s episode of the “Literally! With Rob Lowe” podcast, the tv host stated he raised issues with a producer on the time due to a vulgar story Trump instructed about co-host Nancy O’Dell, which was caught on a sizzling mic.
Whereas Trump’s crude remarks about grabbing girls by the genitals are what dominated headlines when the tape surfaced weeks earlier than the 2016 election, he additionally boasted within the audio about unsuccessfully attempting to seduce O’Dell throughout a furnishings buying journey.
“The day of the filming in 2005, I called my producer [and] said, ‘You’re not gonna believe what Trump said. … He is going after Nancy,’” Bush recalled. “All I said was ‘Nancy O’Dell,’ because I didn’t hear the other stuff.”
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Bush stated he didn’t initially register Trump’s now-infamous line about how “when you’re a star” you possibly can “do anything” to girls however he was nonetheless shocked by the dialog.
“This is crazy. He’s done it again! The guy’s an animal!” he remembered telling his boss.
However his report went nowhere, one thing Bush blames on the blockbuster scores of “The Apprentice” and Trump’s huge worth to the community on the time.
“I report it, basically, to my superior. It sits in a desk forever because … had that tape leaked out when it actually occurred in 2005, I would’ve been fired for an entirely different reason: killing their cash cow,” he stated.
“Trump was a protected, revered source,” Bush added. “He was a hundred million dollars in profit for NBC. He was the king of the ratings.”
When the tape emerged over a decade later following sexual misconduct allegations in opposition to Trump, it didn’t price the then-candidate the election however did derail Bush’s profession.
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After being extensively criticized for laughing at Trump’s feedback through the interview when the audio went public in 2016, the TV persona was compelled to resign from the “Today” present.
“We’ve learned later nothing takes him out,” Bush stated, including that on the time the considering was, “Whoever’s the collateral damage around it, tough shit. The bigger mission is this man not becoming president.”
Bush instructed Lowe that getting ousted from NBC’s flagship morning present and dropping that “huge paycheck” was a significant low level for him.
“I did everything I could think of to keep myself from jumping off the building,” he instructed the “Parks and Rec” star.
Whereas speaking to Lowe, Bush maintained that Trump’s “grab ’em” feedback didn’t even register through the noisy bus trip again in 2005.
“The first time I actually hear that on a tape is sitting in the general manager’s office at the ‘Today’ show,” he stated. “But, it’s the optics. … I [have] no recollection of those words ever being said until I listen to it Oct. 3, 2016, a month before the election — one month and two days before the second [presidential] debate when they’re rolling this thing out.”
