*Billy Bush reportedly bragged to NBC staff about the vulgar Donald Trump tape while covering the Olympics in Rio, multiple sources tell Page Six. The “Today” host boasted at a party in August that he had a “tape of Trump being a real dog.”Staffers at “Access Hollywood” quickly tracked down the tape.
“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,” the insider said, adding it could violate the “morality clause” in his contract because Bush never told the head honchos at NBC News about the tape when he joined “Today.”
Another insider added, “It is not clear if Billy remembered the exact level of vulgarity in the conversation with Trump, or if he instead realized its news value and didn’t declare it to protect himself.”
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A source tells PEOPLE that Bush “can’t recover” from the leaked video that shows Trump making sexual comments alongside Billy about his former “Access Hollywood” co-host Nancy O’Dell and actress Arianne Zucker.
“There is concern that Bush didn’t defend his female co-worker. Instead, he appears to encourage that type of talk about her.” Bush is also heard commenting about “Days of Our Lives” star Arianne Zucker, who he said was “hot as s - - t . . . All I can see is legs.”
Bush has been suspended from his hosting duties. “It’s so ironic that the place that got him there — his job on Access Hollywood — is now destroying him,” the source says.
“They could have released the tape and edited him out,” the source says of the individual that leaked the footage. “That was the plan — they were trying to approve it and then someone leaked it. That’s what Access Hollywood eventually did and they played it … but it was already out,” the source says and adds, “If they wanted to protect him, they could have edited it out which they did on the final Access piece that aired on Friday, but they left it in when it was leaked.”
If you haven’t seen the infamous video, watch below (Warning: Explicit language):
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