Billy Bush says Matt Lauer reached out to him after he was fired from the Today show for sexual misconduct in November.
‘He texted me and asked about self-help books I’ve been reading,’ Bush told People magazine in an interview published Wednesday.
Bush was fired a little less than a year before Lauer’s departure, after a video leaked showing him laughing along as Donald Trump spoke in a degrading way about women before an interview with the then-Apprentice host in 2005.
Billy Bush (left) revealed in an interview on Wednesday that Matt Lauer (right, on Monday) reached out to him after he was fired, asking for self-help book recommendations
While there were rumors that Bush’s coworkers were happy to see him go, Bush says that Lauer reached out to him and ‘assured me he [fought for me] in private’.
‘I accepted that,’ he said.
When he learned about Lauer’s firing late last year, he felt only sad about the situation.
‘At one point, there was part of me that thought if someone else got [fired], I’d be like, “Now who’s the bad guy now?”‘ Bush said. ‘But there is no joy in the demise of others, I felt for the women involved and for his wife.’
A little less than a year before Lauer’s firing, Bush himself was kicked off the show after the P***ygate scandal He says Lauer claimed to have fought for him to stay on the show. Bush (center right) and Lauer (right) sat the Rio Olympics
Since losing his job, Bush says he’s ‘done some self-help work,’ including reading the Bible every day and meditating.
He’s spent a lot of time thinking about his behavior in the P***ygate tape, he takes responsibility for the way he enabled Trump’s derogatory speech.
‘There is a term for what I did,’ he said. ‘It’s called bystander abuse. It says by not doing anything you are endorsing the moment and adding to it. That moment was a product of me wanting to get through [the Trump interview]. To me his comments were so hypothetical and tasteless, I just laughed along.’
The scandal brought Bush’s career as an entertainment journalist to an end, but that wasn’t his rock bottom.
A little less than a year later, he was hit with a second blow when he and his wife Sydney decided to separate.
The couple has been married for 19 years and have three daughters together.
Bush remains hopeful that he and his wife can find love again.
He admits that they were struggling even before the scandal.
‘We got married young and had our first child right away. We’re taking a step back. We get to explore and take our time. She’s been so awesome through everything. I love her very much,’ he said.
While they are taking some time apart, the couple has still been seen working out together in southern California, where they live, and Bush continues to wear his wedding ring.