More than six years after his career was derailed by his involvement in Trump’s infamous Access Hollywood tapes, Extra anchor Billy Bush has been caught in another hot mic moment making crass and sexually demeaning remarks.
In a video clip provided exclusively to The Daily Beast, Bush joked on-set during a taping of Extra about model Kendall Jenner’s Toy Story-inspired Halloween costume and her attractiveness in the outfit.
“Kendall goes as Jessie and, believe me, there were a lot of woodies,” Bush said during the Oct. 31 taping, eliciting laughter from several production staffers in the room. (The Daily Beast is publishing only the audio of the incident in order to protect the anonymity of its source.)
ADVERTISEMENT
Bush made the objectifying comment while standing in front of a large wall screen plastered with images of female celebrities dressed in provocative Halloween garb. Featured at the center was Jenner, the second-youngest of the famed Kardashian/Jenner sisters, dressed up as Jessie, the free-spirited cowgirl from the immensely popular Pixar franchise.
After looking at Jenner’s photo on the screen, Bush asked his production crew for the name of the character. An off-screen voice informed him that the name is Jessie, prompting Bush to toss out his crude sexual remark referencing the name of the character’s love interest, Woody, the lead protagonist of Toy Story.
“As with many forms of production in the entertainment industry, the show’s creative process allows the flexibility to try different jokes and banter,” a representative for Telepictures, the show’s production company, said in a statement. “In the end, some material lands on the cutting room floor, including remarks that may be too edgy to air on broadcast television.” Reps for Jenner did not respond to requests for comment.
Notably, in the final segment that aired on Oct. 31, Bush was a bit more demure when it came to discussing female celebrities’ physical appearances. While reporting on Jenner’s costume, the Extra host only went so far as to remark that “it’s going to be hard to see Toy Story the same way ever again.”
Extra tapes its episodes with roughly 25 people present, our source relayed. Behind the set’s monitors are cubicles where the tabloid TV show’s staffers sit. Along with Bush and other hosts on the set there are normally two camera operators, hair-and-makeup staff, and production assistants present. During taping, everyone in the newsroom can hear what Bush is saying on-stage, the source claimed.
Bush, of course, has been down this road before. Just weeks before the 2016 presidential election, The Washington Post released damning 2005 tapes of Bush and Donald Trump in an obscene and sexually charged conversation.
Before filming a segment for Access Hollywood, which Bush hosted at the time, Trump joked on a hot mic about sexually assaulting women. With the pair aboard the program’s promotional bus, Trump lamented his inability to seduce one of Bush’s colleagues, later identified as former Access Hollywood host Nancy O’Dell.
“I did try and fuck her. She was married,” Trump said as Bush could be heard giggling. “I moved on her like a bitch, but I couldn’t get there. And she was married… Then all of a sudden I see her, she’s now got the big phony tits and everything. She’s totally changed her look.”
Bush—a first cousin of former President George W. Bush—and the future president then prepared to exit the bus when they spotted Days of Our Lives actress Arianne Zucker, who was there to film the segment alongside Trump. (The then-Celebrity Apprentice host was promoting his cameo appearance on the daytime soap opera.)
“Sheesh, your girl’s hot as shit!” Bush exclaimed, essentially playing wingman to Trump. “Yes! The Donald has scored! Whoa, my man. You gotta look at her… Give her the thumbs-up. You gotta give the thumbs-up… Oh my God!”
Trump, in an infamous moment that has been replayed countless times, asked for Tic Tac breath mints “just in case I start kissing her,” before adding: “When you’re a star, they let you do it.”
After Bush agreed that meant “anything you want,” Trump declared to laughter: “Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything.”
While Trump survived the fallout over the footage and shockingly defeated Hillary Clinton for the presidency weeks later, the same could not be said for Bush, who was quickly met with intense public criticism for his enabling of the sexist and boorish “locker room talk.”
Just days after the tapes leaked, NBC suspended Bush as co-anchor of the third hour of the Today show—two months after he got the job. He was then ousted from the network a week later. (Bush, meanwhile, reportedly argued at the time that NBC bosses “had no problem” with his previous off-color remarks about women.)
Bush went on a public apology tour in 2017 and refuted Trump’s laughable claim that he wasn’t on the tape before finding his way back to tabloid TV in 2019 when he replaced Mario Lopez as the host of Extra. (Lopez coincidentally jumped over to Access Hollywood of all places.)
Since then, Bush has largely steered clear of negative headlines, even as his show has dealt with a heavy dose of drama behind the scenes along with concerns about its very existence.
After it was announced that he’d been named the new Extra anchor, Bush spoke with The Daily Beast and expressed contrition for his conduct in the Access Hollywood tape. He insisted the experience made him a better man. “I felt the same things [as his detractors] when I watched that,” he said in September 2019. “It was a gut-punch, because I didn’t like what I saw. It’s a snapshot. It’s not the whole man… It was a bad moment in life. And I owned it and paid heavily for it.”
Bush added: “But I think I’m an improved person, because that’s what adversity does to a human being. These are character-building moments… I have extracted the good out of it. I didn’t miss the opportunity.”
