Billy Bush apologized for his lewd comments in a newly surfaced 2005 video of Donald Trump bragging about kissing and groping women.
“Obviously I’m embarrassed and ashamed,” Bush, 44, said in a statement to Us Weekly on Friday, October 7, not long after the video was posted. “It’s no excuse, but this happened 11 years ago — I was younger, less mature and acted foolishly in playing along. I’m very sorry.”
In the video clip, obtained and released by The Washington Post on Friday, the Republican presidential nominee, 70, can be heard bragging to the former Access Hollywood host about his failed attempt to woo a married woman, who has been identified as Nancy O’Dell, using vulgar terms.
“I did try and fAccess HollywoodAccess Hollywoodk her. She was married,” Trump can be heard saying in the audio, caught on a hot mic aboard an Access Hollywood bus. “And I moved on her very heavily. In fact, I took her out furniture shopping. She wanted to get some furniture. I said, ‘I’ll show you where they have some nice furniture.’”
At that point, Bush appears to spot Days of Our Lives actress Arianne Zucker through the window and exclaims, “Your girl’s hot as s‑‑t, in the purple,” Bush says.
When Trump later tells the current NBC Today show host that he sometimes forcibly kisses “beautiful” women because “when you’re a star they let you do it,” Bush agrees, “Whatever you want.”
“Grab them by the p‑‑sy,” Trump adds. “You can do anything.”
Bush has been married to wife Sydney Davis Bush for 18 years (that would mean he was married for seven years at the time he made the comments), and the couple share three daughters.
The TV host is the nephew of President George H.W. Bush and cousin to President George W. Bush.
Access Hollywood reported on the incident during their Friday, October 7, segment, but did not make a statement directly addressing Bush’s involvement in the video.
In a statement released by Trump on Friday, October 7, in response to the viral video, the presidential hopeful did not own up to wrongdoing. “This was locker room banter, a private conversation that took place many years ago,” he said in the statement. “Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course — not even close. I apologize if anyone was offended.”
