Three years after he was fired by NBC’s “Today” show over the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape, Billy Bush is back in the game as the host and managing editor of the recently redesigned entertainment news show, “Extra.”
On Friday’s “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” Bush explained why he felt it was necessary for him to work behind-the-scenes after returning to TV, rather than just serving as on-camera talent.
“I get in at 6:45 — it’s the first meeting, that’s off camera,” he told DeGeneres. “And I took on that instead of just put on the nice clothes and the makeup and read the lines because, you know, you’re dealing with people’s lives. And I’m really sensitive now to what we say about people. And I don’t want to participate in pile-on culture, which is, you know, when someone’s down, there’s usually two sides to stories. I just don’t want to participate in that.”
He added: “So I just kind of go through every little thing in the script and make sure we’re doing the right thing.”
During the 2016 presidential election campaign, a 2005 tape surfaced that featured Bush laughing in response to crude remarks made by Donald Trump. Bush was fired from the “Today” show as a result of the tape and his gig on “Extra,” which he began earlier this month, marks his comeback to entertainment news.
“At this point for me, it’s about going forward,” Bush said. “And I’ve learned a– it was longer than I thought, I mean it happened 3 years ago. But you learn from these things. It would be a real shame to just check back into the game having not done anything.”
Watch the full interview above.