Five days after he appeared in an infamous leaked video with Donald Trump, Billy Bush is negotiating his departure from NBC, The Washington Post and The New York Times report. Trump does most of the talking in the 2005 footage, but Bush laughs when Trump talks about an unsuccessful attempt to seduce Bush's married Access Hollywood co-host Nancy O'Dell and goads Trump on as he talks about forcing himself on women. NBC suspended Bush on Sunday from his months-old job co-anchoring the 9 a.m. hour of the Today show, and by Tuesday, Bush no longer appeared on Today's digital billboards at 30 Rockefeller Center.
Bush apologized on Friday, but if he had returned, former Today social media editor Anthony Quintano tweeted, the show was "going to have a real problem booking female guests." Today is in a hard-fought ratings war with ABC's Good Morning America. Billy Bush is a cousin of George W. and Jeb Bush.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Gavin Newsom's podcast debut is not going over well with some liberalsIN THE SPOTLIGHT The first episode of the California Governor and potential presidential candidate's 'This is Gavin Newsom' featured cozy conversation with far-right operative Charlie Kirk and a surprisingly conservative stance on transgender athletes
-
'Extremists still find plenty of digital spaces'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
South Carolina to execute prisoner by firing squadspeed read Death row inmate Brad Sigmon prefers the squad over the electric chair or lethal injection, his lawyer said
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
-
Giant schnauzer wins top prize at Westminster showSpeed Read Monty won best in show at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club dog show
-
Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar take top GrammysSpeed Read Beyoncé took home album of the year for 'Cowboy Carter' and Kendrick Lamar's diss track 'Not Like Us' won five awards
-
The Louvre is giving 'Mona Lisa' her own roomSpeed Read The world's most-visited art museum is getting a major renovation
-
Honda and Nissan in merger talksSpeed Read The companies are currently Japan's second and third-biggest automakers, respectively
-
Taylor Swift wraps up record-shattering Eras tourSpeed Read The pop star finally ended her long-running tour in Vancouver, Canada
-
Drake claims illegal boosting, defamationSpeed Read The rapper accused Universal Music of boosting Kendrick Lamar's diss track and said UMG allowed him to be falsely accused of pedophilia
-
'Wicked' and 'Gladiator II' ignite holiday box officeSpeed Read The combination of the two movies revitalized a struggling box office
