Billy Bush suspended from 'Today' show
      

October 9, 2016: 8:15 PM ET

Trump's uncensored lewd comments about women from 2005
Billy Bush has been suspended from the "Today" show "pending further review of the matter," NBC News said Sunday night.

It is unclear if he will ever return to the broadcast.

"He will never be on the show again," an on-air source said, reflecting what staffers are saying behind the scenes.

The sudden change came amid a chorus of calls for disciplinary action against Bush over his vulgar 2005 conversation with Donald Trump that was caught on tape and revealed on Friday.

NBC sources initially said Bush was not being disciplined and that he would be in his usual spot as co-host of the "Today" show's 9 a.m. hour on Monday morning.

As late as Sunday morning, one of the sources was saying that Bush would use Monday's broadcast to reiterate the apology he made Friday.

But on Sunday afternoon, senior NBC executives made the decision to bench Bush on Monday, effectively reprimanding him.

A couple of hours later, the executive in charge of "Today," Noah Oppenheim, said in an internal memo that the executives had decided to go even further and suspend Bush.

"I know we've all been deeply troubled by the revelations of the past 48 hours," Oppenheim wrote.

"Let me be clear -- there is simply no excuse for Billy's language and behavior on that tape," he wrote. "NBC has decided to suspend Billy, pending further review of this matter."

Before the memo was released, the on-air source said staffers were in the dark, stuck refreshing Twitter to find out what was going on with Bush.

The suspension was a stunning turn of events. The "Today" show recently made a multi-million-dollar bet on Bush, relocating him from Los Angeles to New York and making him a co-host.

But the taped 2005 conversation between Bush and Trump has upended the careers of both men.

Trump's vulgar and aggressive comments about women, alluding to sexual assault, caused some Republican leaders to retract their endorsements of him.

Bush played along and joked with Trump, even while Trump talked about trying to sleep with one of Bush's colleagues.

At the time the video was recorded, Bush was a co-host of NBC's entertainment show "Access Hollywood." Now he is a key player on the "Today" show, the profit engine of NBC News. Until Friday, some observers believed he was being groomed to take over for Matt Lauer someday.

Related: Billy Bush: The other voice in the Donald Trump video

Bush is a cousin of both former President George W. Bush and 2016 Trump opponent Jeb Bush.

Bush issued a forthright apology statement on Friday , but it did not quiet the calls for action by NBC. There was an online petition circulating that calls for his firing, and there are hundreds of outraged comments on the "Today" show's social media pages.

On top of that, as Anthony Quintano -- who formerly ran the "Today" show's social media efforts -- pointed out on Friday, "a majority of the 'Today' show production staff is female." It "won't go over well internally to keep Billy Bush around," Quintano said in a tweet .

Bush's 9 a.m. hour is heavy with lifestyle fare, with less political news than the earlier hours. Still, it is a product of NBC News, so the news division has ethical considerations to make about Bush's role in the tape -- and in ongoing coverage of the election.

Decisions about releasing the "Access Hollywood" tape reached to the highest level of NBCUniversal, to the office of CEO Steve Burke, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

An NBC source confirmed Burke's involvement and reiterated that the network was preparing to broadcast a report about the tape when it was leaked to the Washington Post on Friday.

Related: How the shocking hot mic tape of Donald Trump was exposed

Adding a slightly bizarre element to the story, the New York Times reported Sunday that the outgoing voicemail message on Bush's extension at NBC says, "You've reached Billy Bush's office, he's busy making America great again, please leave a message." The voice is apparently not his.

CNNMoney (St. Louis) First published October 9, 2016: 4:16 PM ET



Billy Bush under fire over vulgar Trump tape


by Brian Stelter @brianstelter October 9, 2016: 9:38 AM ET

Trump's uncensored lewd comments about women from 2005
"Today" show co-host Billy Bush says he is "embarrassed and ashamed" about his vulgar chat with Donald Trump on a 2005 videotape that was revealed on Friday.

"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," Bush said in a statement.

Before the statement was released by NBC, angry comments piled up on Bush's Facebook page from viewers who were disgusted by the contents of the tape. On it, Trump brags in graphic terms about being able to grope women "when you're a star" and Bush jokes about it.

The "Today" show Facebook page was also overtaken by hundreds of critical comments. Some viewers said they want Bush to be suspended or fired.

NBC News had no immediate comment on that, either.

Related: 'SNL' takes on the Trump-Bush tape

But one "Today" show source called the situation "brutal."

And downright strange -- since Billy Bush is a cousin of George W. and Jeb Bush.

"Imagine if Billy Bush had remembered his talk with Donald Trump in time to help cousin Jeb," entertainment web siteThe Wrap opined on Friday night.

Bush recently became a co-host of the 9 a.m. hour of "Today," NBC's highly profitable morning show. He regularly appears during other hours of the four-hour broadcast, which has a predominantly female audience.

As the controversy over the tape erupted on Friday afternoon, Anthony Quintano, who formerly ran the "Today" show's social media efforts, pointed out that "a majority of the 'Today' show production staff is female" and said it "won't go over well internally to keep Billy Bush around."

It is hard to picture Bush sitting around the "Today" show table on Monday morning, chatting about Sunday night's presidential debate, given that Trump's taped comments are sure to be part of the debate.

NBC executives may conclude that his role is untenable through election day.

Or they may choose to ride out the controversy. Bush is a brand-new addition to the morning show, representing a big bet by NBC for the future of the franchise.

And he issued a deeply apologetic statement within a few hours.

donald trump billy bush

Related: Trump bragged on hot mic about being able to grope women

Back in 2005, when Bush's conversation with Trump took place, Bush was a co-host of "Access Hollywood," the entertainment newsmagazine owned by NBC.

Trump was a colleague of sorts -- he was the star of NBC's prime time reality show "The Apprentice."

The two men were together to promote Trump's appearance on an NBC soap opera.

Bush joked around with Trump and seemingly enabled his sexist comments. At one point he urged a female actress to give Trump a hug.

In a statement, Trump said the comments were "locker room banter" and said, "I apologize if anyone was offended."

The video was not broadcast by NBC at the time it was taped. But it was archived at "Access Hollywood."

According to NBC sources, "Access Hollywood" was working on its own story this week about the tape, but as of Friday the story "wasn't quite finalized."

Somehow -- it is unclear how -- David Fahrenthold of The Washington Post came into possession of a copy , and published it on Friday afternoon.

Related: How the shocking hot mic tape was unearthed

A spokeswoman for "Access" had no immediate comment about why the tape did not surface sooner.

"Access" aired its own report about the tape on Friday night.

CNNMoney (New York) First published October 7, 2016: 5:52 PM ET