Billy Bush, fired over infamous Access Hollywood Trump tape, was 'livid' not to feature in a 'Today' 70th anniversary video: report
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Billy Bush was upset not to be in a 70th anniversary video for 'Today', the New York Post reported.
Bush was fired by NBC after appearing in the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape with Donald Trump.
Host Matt Lauer, fired over sexual-assault claims in 2017, did appear in the montage.
TV personality Billy Bush is "livid" at being excluded from a video montage marking the 70th anniversary of NBC's "Today" that aired on Friday, the New York Post reported.
Bush featured in the notorious "Access Hollywood" video that was released just before the 2016 election.
In the audio, recorded in 2005 when Bush was hosting the show, he could be heard egging on Donald Trump as he bragged about sexually assaulting women.
In one widely-cited phrase Trump said he would not bother to see if women were interested in him but "grab 'em by the pussy."
"When you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything," he also said.
The release of the tape threatened to derail Trump's campaign, but he survived the scandal and was elected to the presidency.
However Bush's career at NBC did not last. He was axed as a host of its "Today" show, where he had worked for only two months, after the scandal broke.
Per the New York Post, Bush was upset that he was not in the video while presenter Matt Lauer, who was fired after being accused of sexual assault in 2017, does briefly feature.
"Billy was livid they included everyone except him," a source close to Bush told the tabloid. "When they chose to include Matt Lauer — who was accused of anally raping a young staff member while on a work trip — but chose not to include Billy, you know something is very wrong."
A former colleague, Brook Nevils, was identified as Lauer's accuser by Ronan Farrow in a 2019 book, with Nevils alleging that Lauer raped her on a work trip in Sochi, Russia, in 2014.
Lauer had worked as an anchor on "Today" for 20 years before he was fired, and denied the allegations.
The nephew of former president George HW Bush, Bush now hosts "Extra" on Fox.
Read the original article on Business Insider