It's looking less and less like Billy Bush will ever return to The Today Show. Bush was suspended from the morning program after the now infamous tape featuring the correspondent and Donald Trump demeaning and objectifying women was leaked. Now the TV personality has been removed from the digital Billboard advertising The Today Show outside of 30 Rock.
Billy Bush already wiped off the digital billboards outside of 30 ROCK. pic.twitter.com/WTa07OZ2us
— Mark Graham (@unclegrambo) October 11, 2016
But Bush almost avoided being involved in the scandal, according to People. “They could have released the tape and edited him out,” the source explained. “That was the plan — they were trying to approve it and then someone leaked it. That’s what Access Hollywood eventually did and they played it … but it was already out.”
While Bush must wish the tape did not include his addition to what Trump has inaccurately described as "locker room talk," he is not blameless in the incident. "Bushy" — as he calls himself in a video clip which shows him goading Arianne Zucker into hugging Trump — encouraged the comments by laughing rather than admonishing him. Bush helped normalize the statements the GOP nominee made about women that have been rightfully identified as describing assault. It would have been better for Bush's career if he had been edited out of the tape. However, the public deserved to know the kind of misogyny he supported behind closed doors.