Billy Bush Finally Addresses Trump ‘Access Hollywood’ Tape

FILE - In this Sept. 19, 2014 file photo, Billy Bush arrives at the Operation Smile's 2014 Smile Gala in Beverly Hills, Calif. Bush will begin appearing on the "Today" morning show during NBC's coverage of the Rio Ol... FILE - In this Sept. 19, 2014 file photo, Billy Bush arrives at the Operation Smile's 2014 Smile Gala in Beverly Hills, Calif. Bush will begin appearing on the "Today" morning show during NBC's coverage of the Rio Olympics in August, the network said Tuesday, May 17, 2016. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File) MORE LESS
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In his first interview since the leak of an “Access Hollywood” tape last fall showing Donald Trump making lewd comments about women to Billy Bush in 2005, the former “Today Show” host told the Hollywood Reporter that he regrets how he handled the interview at the time.

“I heard it for the first time seven and a half months ago, three days before the rest of the world heard it. I was shocked and alarmed and totally and completely gutted. It was awful. And my participation was awful, too,” Bush told the Hollywood Reporter. “I remember that guy, he was almost sycophantic. It was my first year as co-host of Access Hollywood, and I was an insecure person, a bit of a pleaser, wanting celebrities to like me and fit in.”

Bush said that he wished he had steered Trump toward a different topic.

“Looking back upon what was said on that bus, I wish I had changed the topic. [Trump] liked TV and competition,” he said. “I could’ve said, ‘Can you believe the ratings on whatever?’ But I didn’t have the strength of character to do it.”

The former television host said that he has done a lot of self-reflection since the Washington Post published the tape in October.

“I am not grateful for the moment,” Bush told the Hollywood Reporter. “But I’m grateful for what I’ve gotten out of it. I’m grateful that it hit me all the way to my core.”

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