Billy Bush Of ‘Today’ Show Suspended Indefinitely By NBC For Donald Trump Tape, ‘Will Never Be On The Show Again’ [Breaking]
Breaking reports indicate that NBC has suspended Billy Bush indefinitely for his appearance in the leaked tape of Donald Trump from 2005. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Bush was caught on the recently-leaked tape trading sexist remarks with Trump.
Now, according to a report from CNN, Billy Bush has been indefinitely suspended by NBC, shortly after the network claimed that “there have been no discussions of any type of disciplinary action.”
Executive Producer of Today, Noah Oppenheim, said that “there is simply no excuse for Billy’s language and behavior on that tape,” and that Bush has been suspended “pending further review of the matter.”
On the tape, Bush, who was hosting Access Hollywood at the time, is discussing Donald Trump’s (at-the-time) recently-new wife, Melania Trump.
“Your girl’s hot as s—, in the purple.”
Trump responded by admitting that he had “moved… very heavily” on another married woman at the time.
“I moved on her and I failed. I’ll admit it.”
“I did try and f— her. She was married.”
“In fact, I took her out furniture shopping,” continued Trump. “She wanted to get some furniture. I said, ‘I’ll show you where they have some nice furniture.’ I moved on her like a b—, but I couldn’t get there. And she was married. Then all of a sudden I see her, she’s now got the big phony t— and everything. She’s totally changed her look.”
An unnamed source at NBC‘s Today show said that Billy Bush “… will never be on the show again,” according to staffers behind the scenes. Many had been calling for disciplinary action to be taken against him.
According to the Washington Post, Trump has already admitted to the content of the tape and issued a brief apology for his remarks.
“I said it, I was wrong, and I apologize.”
But he went on to call the leak a “distraction” and promptly turned the issue around to attack Bill Clinton, saying that his remarks were far different and accusing Clinton of being abusive to women, and on Hillary Clinton herself, rather ironically accusing her of having “bullied, attacked, shamed and intimidated his victims.”
Responding to GOP critics demanding that he drop out of the race, he said that he’d be discussing the issue more in the days to come.
Earlier in the day, sources were saying that Billy Bush would be using Monday’s Today to repeat the apology he’d made on Friday, but by the afternoon, they’d decided to put him on the bench for Monday’s show. A few hours later, the indefinite suspension decision was released. Meanwhile, inside sources said that they were kept totally in the dark, repeatedly refreshing Twitter for news.
“Obviously I’m embarrassed and ashamed. 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.”
Bush is 44 now; he would have been in his 30s at the time.
The decision was communicated to them via an internal memo by Oppenheim.
“I know we’ve all been deeply troubled by the revelations of the past 48 hours.”
The decision to suspend Billy Bush may be the final nail in his career. Prior to the tape’s release, many speculated that he was being groomed to take over Today from co-host Matt Lauer – NBC had even made a significant investment in relocating him from New York to Los Angeles. But sources within Today say that in his short time with the show, he has already caused drama and dislike amongst the staff.
[Featured Image by Craig Barritt/Getty Images for SiriusXM]
