Billy Bush Apologizes for Role in Trump Video: 'I'm Embarrassed and Ashamed'

Updated Sat, October 8, 2016 at 12:43 AM UTC

Billy Bush has regrets about playing along with Donald Trump.

The current Today show co-host, seen laughing along with Trump as the Republican presidential nominee makes sexist comments on a just-released video, issued a statement of apology on Friday.

“Obviously I’m embarrassed and ashamed,” Bush said in a statement. “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.” (Note: Billy Bush was 33 years old when the video was made.)

The video currently creating a political firestorm is from 2005, when Bush was a host for Access Hollywood and Trump was doing a guest spot on the NBC soap Days of Our Lives. In it, the newly married Trump talks openly about hitting on a married woman (“I did try and f–k her”) — who turns out to be Bush’s Access Hollywood co-host Nancy O’Dell — and says being a celebrity allows him to do whatever he wants to women: “When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the p—y.”

Bush, for his part, giggled throughout the conversation and even threw in a few questionable comments of his own, saying Trump’s Days co-star Arianne Zucker was “hot as s–t” and asking her to hug Trump and himself when they met.

NBC, Bush’s current employer, had no comment on the video or Bush’s role in it. But a Today show source speaking with CNN called the situation “brutal.”

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Billy Bush Apologizes for Role in Trump Video: 'I'm Embarrassed and Ashamed'

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