Billy Bush Claims He Reported Donald Trump’s Infamous 'Access Hollywood' Tape Back in 2005: 'This Guy's an Animal!'

Former Access Hollywood anchor Billy Bush is stepping into the spotlight again, claiming he alerted NBC about Donald Trump's notorious hot mic moments years before they caused a scandal in 2016.

According to Bush, the network didn’t act on the information, allegedly to protect their "cash cow."

During an appearance on SiriusXM’s podcast “Literally! With Rob Lowe,” Bush recounted his experience, stating he flagged Trump's lewd remarks "the day of filming" in 2005.

"I called my producer [and] said, 'You're not gonna believe what Trump said. He is going after Nancy.' All I said was 'Nancy O'Dell' because I didn't hear the other stuff," Bush explained, referring to his Access Hollywood colleague. "I said, 'He's trying to take Nancy furniture shopping to sleep with her. This is crazy. He's done it again! The guy's an animal!'"

Despite mentioning Trump's behavior toward O'Dell, Bush seemingly ignored Trump's infamous comment about grabbing women by the genitals, asserting that his warning sat "in a desk forever."

"Had that tape leaked out when it actually occurred in 2005, I would've been fired for an entirely different reason; killing [NBC's] cash cow," he alleged, explaining that Trump was a "protected, revered source" due to the significant profits he generated for the network.

Bush noted, "It cost a lot of money to make The Apprentice cost nothing. And his ratings were huge... Then, years later, the falling out, he used to own the pageant and air it on NBC, and they have litigation and they hate him, and now he's running for president and they want him dead."

The veteran broadcaster claimed that NBC executives were actively searching for clips of Trump making disparaging remarks about women after a former pageant queen came forward with allegations of inappropriate behavior.

"Trump said, 'I've never said or done anything inappropriate with women ever in my life,'" Bush recalled.

"And then NBC, who hates him, sent out these messages to every division of the company: 'Do you have any tapes...what they really wanted was Mark Burnett's tape, the guy who ran The Apprentice, because there's outtakes forever — but [they asked], 'Does anyone else have anything of him talking disparagingly about women? We need this.' And my producer at the time was like, 'Holy s---. The bus ride. That tape, that was like 11 years ago. That's the time when Bush called me right after it happened.'"

Ultimately, The Washington Post published an exposé detailing the audio, sparking a scandal that rocked the 2016 election cycle and led to Bush's dismissal from NBC. In the tape, Trump made lewd comments about women and boasted about sexual assault, infamously stating, "When you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything."

While Bush’s laughter can be heard in the background, his involvement ultimately cost him his role on NBC's Today.