Billy Bush: 'Plenty of people' at NBC knew about Trump tape

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Billy Bush: 'Plenty of people knew' about Trump tape

Former 'Today' host Billy Bush speaks about his involvement in the leaked 'Access Hollywood' Donald Trump tape

Billy Bush doesn’t say much about his former employer, NBC, in his in-depth interview with The Hollywood Reporter but he does claim that "plenty of people" at NBC knew about the 2005 tape that featured him and Trump discussing women in a lewd manner.

The audio was published by the Washington Post on Oct. 7, 2016, just two days before the second presidential debate between then-candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

Many questioned the timing of the leak, speculating that politics played a role in the release of the years-old recordings.

Though Bush said little else about his employer’s knowledge of the damaging tapes, his brother Jonathan spoke out against the network.

Jonathan Bush lamented to The Hollywood Reporter, "NBC News and [their] crocodile outrage: 'We are so disappointed with Billy.’ I think Billy was angry, notwithstanding his own devils to reckon with. You build an identity and reputation over 15 years, and you lose it over 15 hours. And you don't get to be part of it. You don't get to say, 'Hey, wait a minute.'"

BILLY BUSH SPEAKS OUT ABOUT TRUMP TAPE

Billy Bush admitted to The Hollywood Reporter he would have liked to address his "Today" show viewers as the scandal broke.

"I would have welcomed addressing the audience.”

Sources told The New York Post after the tape leaked that Bush was bragging about the existence of the recording of a conversation between him and Trump.

“I never shared knowledge of the tape with anyone who didn't already know of its existence. And that was plenty of people,” he said.

NBC did not immediately return Fox News’ request for comment regarding who at the network may have known about the tape.

Bush said he was shown the tape “three days before the rest of the world heard it.”

“Looking back on what was said on that bus, I wish I had changed the topic. I wish I had said: ‘Does anyone want water?’ or ‘It looks like it’s gonna rain,’” Bush admitted.