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Billy Bush

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For the American record producer, see Billy Bush (record producer). For the American actor, see Billy "Green" Bush.

Billy Bush
Bush in 2006
Born
William Hall Bush

(1971-10-13) October 13, 1971 (age 53)[1]
New York City, New York, U.S.
EducationColby College
Occupations
Spouse
Sydney Davis
​
(m. 1998)​
Children3
Parent(s)Jonathan Bush
Josephine Bush [Q27161717]
Relatives

William Hall "Billy" Bush (born October 13, 1971) is an American radio and television host. He hosted The Billy Bush Show, a nationally syndicated radio show that aired throughout the United States. After first appearing as a correspondent on Access Hollywood from 2001 to 2004, he became a primary anchor of the program in 2004. He departed Access Hollywood in 2016, having been named a co-host of the third hour of The Today Show. In October 2016, he became the subject of controversy when a 2005 recording surfaced of Donald Trump having a lewd conversation with Bush. Following the incident, Bush was suspended from The Today Show. He is a member of the Bush family.

Personal life

William Hall Bush was born in Manhattan, New York City,[2] the son of Josephine (née Bradley) and Jonathan Bush, whose older brother George H. W. Bush was the 41st U.S. President.

Bush attended middle school at St. Bernard's School and high school at St. George's School in Rhode Island,[1] and in 1994 he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and Government from Colby College in Waterville, Maine,[1][3] where he was also a two-time captain of the college's men's lacrosse team.[4][5]

He resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Sydney Davis, whom he married on April 4, 1998, and their three daughters: Josephine "Josie", Mary and Lillie.[3][5]

Career

Bush began his career hosting the afternoon drive show on WLKZ-FM in New Hampshire, later moving to Washington, D.C., where he hosted the midday show on WARW-FM.[1] In March 1997, Bush joined WWZZ-FM (Z104) in D.C. as host of Billy Bush and the Bush League Morning Show, which aired until January 2001.[4] In January 2003, Billy hosted a short-lived NBC prime-time version of Let's Make a Deal.[1][4] He was also a correspondent for WNBC-TV's Today in New York morning show.[4][5]

Billy Bush joined Access Hollywood, a daily entertainment newsmagazine, as East Coast correspondent in December 2001.[2] He was promoted to co-anchor in June 2004.

While working at Access Hollywood he was present at high-profile red carpet events including the Golden Globes, Grammys, and Academy Awards, and hosted ABC's live pre-show for the 2004, 2005 and 2006 Academy Awards and the 2006 Emmy Red Carpet Special.

Bush was a reporter for NBC at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, and was the host for Access Hollywood's coverage of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino as well as the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. In addition, Bush hosted the reality competition Grease: You're the One that I Want! on NBC in 2007,[1] and stood in for Meredith Vieira for a week of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire shows on April 21–25, 2008.

He returned to radio with The Billy Bush Show, a nightly talk radio and entertainment interview show. It airs out of KBIG in Los Angeles and is syndicated by Westwood One. The show is written by Ryan Miller and produced by Corrin Barlow, while Billy Bush and Access Hollywood executive producer Rob Silverstein are the show's executive producers.[5] The show, which airs evenings Monday through Friday, focuses on the top entertainment stories and personalities in the news, and features celebrity guests and listener calls.

Bush co-hosted the Miss Universe pageant four times: in 2003 and 2004 with Daisy Fuentes; in 2005 with fellow Access Hollywood co-anchor Nancy O'Dell; and in 2009 with Claudia Jordan. He has also co-hosted the Miss USA pageant four times, with almost the same partners: in 2003 with Fuentes; 2004 and 2005 with O'Dell; and again in 2009, this time with Nadine Velazquez. After the 65th Annual Golden Globe Awards of 2008 were cancelled as a result of the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike, Bush co-hosted the 65th Annual Golden Globe Awards Announcement press conference with Nancy O'Dell on January 13, 2008.

Bush was named one of Esquire magazine's "10 Men" in July 2005.[5][6]

From September 13, 2010, to October 2016, Bush co-hosted the syndicated national daily entertainment talk show called Access Hollywood Live, along with co-host Kit Hoover. This show is a sister show of Access Hollywood, with host chat of hot topics and celebrity live interviews. Both Billy and Kit traveled together to the UK to cover Prince William's wedding to Catherine Middleton, as part of the NBC team coverage.

Bush had a small role as the voice of a newscaster in the 2014 Disney animated film Big Hero 6.

Bush was the co-host of the third hour of NBC's Today Show until October 9, 2016 when he was suspended indefinitely by NBC due to the fallout from the surfacing of a 2005 tape of a conversation between him and Donald Trump which was thought to be private (see below).

Recorded conversation with Trump

On October 7, 2016, video footage was released of Donald Trump having a lewd conversation with Bush. The video was made in the course of videotaping an Access Hollywood episode in 2005, promoting Trump's cameo appearance in an episode of daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives to promote The Apprentice. In the video, which was recorded several months after he married his third wife Melania, Trump discussed a failed attempt to seduce Nancy O'Dell. [7] "I moved on her, and I failed. I’ll admit it." He also discussed groping women: "Grab them by the pussy ... You can do anything."[8]

According to The Washington Post, there were seven people on the bus with Bush and Trump: a camera crew of two, the bus driver, the show's producer, a production assistant, Trump's security guard, and Trump's public relations consultant. Upon arriving at the lot, the camera crew was let off the bus to shoot footage of Bush and Trump disembarking from the bus. Trump and Bush were meeting with Days actress Arianne Zucker.[9] The footage included audio of Trump discussing women using vulgar language (seemingly unaware that his microphone was active), Bush laughing about Trump's failed effort to seduce a married woman,[10] and joining in by commenting on Zucker. Bush received criticism online and calls for his resignation from Today, with The Washington Post stating, "Bush’s public image was damaged—perhaps beyond repair."[9] He issued an apology, stating, "obviously I'm embarrassed and ashamed. It's no excuse, but this happened eleven years ago. I was younger, less mature, and acted foolishly in playing along. I'm very sorry."[11] Bush was 34 at the time of the incident.

Commenting on the controversy, The Economist noted: "Who would have thought that Mr. Bush, a presenter of NBC’s Today news show, could end up playing a more influential role in this election than his cousin Jeb, whom many Republicans once expected to win it?"[12]

On October 9, 2016, NBC announced that Bush was suspended from the Today show for his role in the 2005 video. He was suspended pending an internal review, and NBC did not provide information about if or when he would be coming back on-air.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Billy Bush Biography". "starpulse.com". Archived from the original on June 24, 2008. Retrieved May 19, 2009.
  2. ^ a b "A Bush cousin finds his TV niche". philly.com. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Billy Bush: Biography". TV Guide. Retrieved October 5, 2009.
  4. ^ a b c d "Billy Bush Biography". yahoo.com. Retrieved October 5, 2009.
  5. ^ a b c d e "About Billy Bush". Westwood One/The Billy Bush Show. Archived from the original on October 2, 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "The Bob Woodward of the Red Carpet". Esquire. July 1, 2005. Archived from the original on June 11, 2009. {{cite journal}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; June 11, 2011 suggested (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ Capelouto, Susanna. "Nancy O'Dell, the woman who rebuffed Trump". CNN. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
  8. ^ Fahrenthold, David A. (October 7, 2016). "Trump recorded having extremely lewd conversation about women in 2005". Washington Post. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
  9. ^ a b Emily Yahr, Elahe Izadi (October 7, 2016). "Billy Bush was already polarizing. His lewd Donald Trump conversation makes things much worse". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
  10. ^ "Donald Trump, Billy Bush discussed Nancy O'Dell in leaked audio". USA Today. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
  11. ^ Michael M. Grynbaum, John Koblin (October 7, 2016). "Billy Bush Says He's Ashamed by Lewd Talk With Donald Trump". The New York Times. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
  12. ^ J.A. (October 8, 2016). "Lecher-in-chief: Donald Trump boasts of groping women". The Economist. London. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
  13. ^ Gold, Hadas (October 9, 2016). "Billy Bush suspended from 'Today' show". POLITICO. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
Media offices
Preceded by Host of Let's Make a Deal
2003 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Host of Access Hollywood with Nancy O'Dell
2004– 		Succeeded by
current
Preceded by Miss USA host
with Daisy Fuentes (2003)
with Nancy O'Dell (2004–2005) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Phil Simms with Daisy Fuentes
 Host of Miss Universe
with Daisy Fuentes (2003–2004)
with Nancy O'Dell (2005) 		Succeeded by
Nancy O'Dell with Carlos Ponce
Preceded by Host of Miss Universe
with Claudia Jordan 2009 		Succeeded by

18 December 2024

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