Billy Bush Breaks Silence on 'Access Hollywood' Tape, Donald Trump & More

In a new, sweeping interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Billy Bush speaks for the very first time about the now infamous Donald Trump "Access Hollywood" tape which contained Donald Trump making crude remarks about women and ultimately led to the firing of Bush from his job on NBC's "Today."

"Looking back on what was said on that bus, I wish I had changed the topic," Bush confessed to THR. "[Trump] liked TV and competition. I could've said, 'Can you believe the ratings on whatever?' I didn't have the strength of character to do it."

Speaking on the days which immediately followed the revelation of the audio tape, Bush shares, "That early part was just chaos. But then things progressed, and when you have a big, traumatic event, you go through stages, and it led to acceptance and understanding. And then I found myself in a place of soul searching. And I developed a commitment to become a better, fuller man."

At first, Bush believed he would be given the chance to appear on air and offer an apology to a shocked public. "I put together an apology right away, the one you saw; I told people that I was ashamed and embarrassed."

Asked his thoughts on whether America was seeing "the real" Donald Trump in the tape, Bush offers, "...he's a provocateur. Shocking statements flow like wine from him. And he likes to captivate an audience." He adds, "I felt that, in that moment, he was being typically Donald, which is performing and shocking. Almost like Andrew Dice Clay, the stand-up comedian: Does he really do the things that he's saying or is that his act? And in Donald's case, I equated it that way. When he said what he said, I'd like to think if I had thought for a minute that there was a grown man detailing his sexual assault strategy to me, I'd have called the FBI."

Read the interview in full here

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