Billy Bush has been suspended from NBC’s Today show, according to an internal memo sent out to the show staff on Sunday night by senior vp Noah Oppenheim.
He wrote:
Dear TODAY Family —
I know we’ve all been deeply troubled by the revelations of the past 48 hours.
Let me be clear — there is simply no excuse for Billy’s language and behavior on that tape. NBC has decided to suspend Billy, pending further review of this matter.
If any of you have any questions or concerns please reach out to me directly, anytime day or night.
Best,
Noah
The original plan was to have Bush in his his regular anchor seat in the 9 a.m. hour of the Today show, where he would address his vulgar comments made during a 2005 hot mic conversation with Donald Trump for a segment on Access Hollywood, which Bush was then hosting.
“The plan is for him to have a chance to apologize,” an NBC source said earlier Sunday. Apparently, protests were loud enough, from both inside and outside the NBC News department, that show brass decided later in the day not to let Bush appear.
I wonder if this is the end of Bush’s network career, at least for now?