Billy Bush reveals new details about Trump's lewd 'Access Hollywood' tape that nearly derailed 2016 campaign
Former "Access Hollywood" host Billy Bush has shared new details about the infamous 2005 tape featuring Donald Trump that became a major controversy during the 2016 presidential election.
In an interview on Tucker Carlson's podcast earlier this week, Bush said that NBC, where he worked at the time, initially buried the tape to protect its relationship with Trump, who hosted its hit series "The Apprentice" for 14 seasons.
But he alleges that The Washington Post later publicized the old recording about a month before the 2016 election to harm Trump's candidacy.
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Bush was on a bus with Trump during the recording of their now-infamous conversation before filming a segment for "Access Hollywood." Trump was unaware he was being recorded as he made crude comments about women, including the infamous "grab them by the p—" remark.
Bush recalled that after the recording, he went straight to his bosses at NBC, concerned about the potential fallout.
"Had that tape leaked out in 2005 when it happened, heads would have rolled, including mine, because you just completely tarnished our major cash cow," Bush told Carlson.
Bush said he raised the issue with his bosses not out of personal shame but out of concern for NBC's financial investment in Trump.
"The reason I said that was nothing that I did, nothing that I was ashamed of, I don't care. The reason was, in 2005, Donald Trump was the biggest star on NBC making $100 million in profit a year for the network," he said.
Amid the runaway success of "The Apprentice," Bush described how, at the time, Trump was considered one of the network's biggest assets.
However, he claims that the situation dramatically shifted in 2016 during Trump's presidential campaign, when the tape was leaked to The Washington Post.
Bush says he first learned about the leak when Matt Lauer, the former "Today" show host, approached him after Bush finished his segment on air.
"I found out that the Access Hollywood bus tape was in the NBC News building by Matt Lauer," Bush explained. "Lauer came to me after I got off the air at 'The Today Show' on a Tuesday morning and he said, 'Hey, what are you going to do about the tape?'"
Bush also offered new details about what led up to Trump's quote, including a moment where Trump is said to have called Bush's co-host Nancy O'Dell "so hot."
"The Donald, at that point, while we're waiting, he gets into his, what he likes to talk about and, you know, you don't choose the agenda with Donald Trump," said Bush. "He talks at you. He started by talking about my co-host Nancy O'Dell, you know, 'she's so hot,' whatever. I handled that beautifully, and he keeps going."
"I'm sorry, I'm just too amused," said Carlson, laughing in response.
In October 2016, NBC News fired Bush from "Access Hollywood" and suspended him from the "Today" show. After a bout with heavy drinking, Bush regained his professional footing and landed a gig as the host of "Extra" in 2019.
Bush is set to debut his own video podcast, "Hot Mics," later this month.
Trump and The Washington Post have had an often adversarial public relationship.
In December 2017, for example, Trump called for Washington Post reporter Dave Weigel to be fired over a tweet mocking the crowd size of his inauguration.
In 2020, Trump's presidential campaign filed a defamation lawsuit against The Washington Post, which was later dismissed by a federal judge in 2023.
