Billy Bush’s sensational revelation: How NBC hid the truth to save its “cash cow” Trump
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The Warning That Was Ignored
Billy Bush claims he warned NBC executives about Donald Trump’s inappropriate comments about women as early as 2005 — a full 11 years before the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape rocked the 2016 presidential election.
According to Bush, the network suppressed the warning to protect its “cash cow.”
“That man is an animal!”
Speaking on Rob Lowe’s “Literally!” podcast, Bush revealed he called his producer immediately after filming with Trump.
“You won’t believe what Trump said. He’s after Nancy,” Bush told his boss.
“He wants to take Nancy shopping for furniture so he can sleep with her. This is crazy. He’s done it again! That man is an animal!”
NBC’s Millionaire Man
Why did NBC sit on such explosive material? Bush put it bluntly: “Trump was a protected, revered source.
He was a hundred-million-dollar profit for NBC. He was the king of ratings.”
The former “Access Hollywood” anchor believes releasing the tape in 2005 would have cost him his job for “killing NBC’s cash cow.”
From golden boy to persona non grata
The relationship between Trump and the network hasn’t always been smooth sailing.
“Years later, there was a feud … they had litigation and they hate him, and now he’s running for president and they want to destroy him,” Bush claimed.
This dramatic shift reportedly led NBC executives to search for damaging clips of Trump.
11-year-old recording resurfaces
When Trump declared he had “never said or done anything inappropriate about women,” according to Bush, NBC sent a message to every division: “Does anybody have any evidence of him saying derogatory things about women? We need it.”
Then his old producer remembered the more than decade-old bus recording.
Reparations
When The Washington Post published the tape in October 2016, Bush was the casualty.
Despite only laughing at and occasionally provoking Trump, he lost his job on NBC’s “Today” show.
“Forget about anybody who’s a casualty around this. The bigger mission is that this guy doesn’t become president,” Bush said, describing the network’s alleged mindset.
Remorse and Reflection
Looking back, Bush thinks he would have handled the moment differently.
“I wish I had changed the subject. I wish I had said: ‘Does anybody need water?’ or, ‘It looks like it’s going to rain.’ … I didn’t have the character strength to do that.”
NBC has not yet responded to requests for comment on Bush’s explosive claims.