Billy Bush is doing his best to distance himself from the Donald Trump “locker-room banter” controversy. In the leaked footage, Bush cheered on Trump as he spouted lewd comments about women in 2005. But despite his newfound reticence, Bush was reportedly still bragging about the 11-year-old comments as recently as the Rio Summer Olympics.
Page Six reports that Bush had bragged to staffers during a party in Rio while covering the summer Olympics. Bush apparently claimed that he had audio of Trump spewing these inflammatory comments. The boasting prompted producers to look for the tape, with one NBC official telling the publications Bush could be fired over a morality clause in his contract:
“Billy was bragging about the tape to other NBC staff while in Rio. If he knew about the tape, and remembered the full extent of such an explosive conversation with a presidential candidate and didn’t disclose that to NBC News, that is a very, very serious problem.”
One staffer said they weren’t sure if Bush brought up the comments because he remembered the severity of the conversation or if he believed it could be a news story. Whatever his reasoning was, he doesn’t sound great on the leaked audio either. Bush is already in hot water with NBC brass over the tape, as they have suspended him from Today. This, on top of his defense of Ryan Lochte this summer, hasn’t won him over any new supporters, and we’re sure Al Roker is still furious.
(Via Page Six)
