Billy Bush recently reflected on his less-than-pleasant experiences with Al Roker during his stint on the Today show approximately ten years ago.
In a candid conversation on The Nerve with Maureen Callahan, the 54-year-old Bush shared his thoughts on Roker, 71, saying, “There’s always been something about me that made [him] uneasy. He seemed to like me but was apprehensive, wanting to keep me at a distance.” Bush went on to describe Roker with three distinct words: territorial, vindictive, and consistently unprepared.
Bush stepped into the Today show as a cohost in May 2016, taking over the third-hour segment following Willie Geist‘s exit, and teamed up with the popular weatherman. During his tenure, Bush asserted that Roker often came to work “without adequate preparation,” which starkly contrasted with Bush’s own professional ethos.
“I approached each segment with diligence, ensuring I was thoroughly prepared for every guest,” Bush explained. “I immersed myself in research, developed a flow, and noticed Al would become envious. It was clear he wanted to guard his territory.”
Billy Bush’s time on Today was brief, lasting only five months before NBC dismissed him in the wake of the 2016 Access Hollywood tape scandal. During his short tenure, he sensed that the male colleagues, including Matt Lauer, were not particularly fond of him. Bush, now 53, shared this insight during a July 9 episode of “Literally! With Rob Lowe.”
Bush claimed that Roker would interject after he asked a guest multiple “questions in a row.” The journalist shared that he felt unwelcomed by Roker.
“There was this general feeling they don’t want you there,” he said. “When I got the gig, the bosses did the thing, they thought I was going to be great for the third hour. But the territorial talent, especially the men — Matt Lauer, Al Roker — definitely did not want me there. You could feel it on their skin. I could feel it in the room with them.”
At one point during his time there, Bush claimed that Roker was liking social media posts that described him as a “white-splaining racist.”
“I was on the air with him every day. And so I’m like, ‘Oh, my god, I’m here. I’m new. I’m the new guy. And this dude’s liking tweets from people that are calling me things that are career-ending and awful and not f***ing true,’” he recalled.
Bush claimed that he brought up the issue to his producers but nothing was done since “Al had been there forever.”
“People don’t know how mean he was. He’s mean,” Bush said of Roker. “He’s mean. He’s a mean person. When you say rageful and all that, it’s mean. There is rage in there. There’s jealousy. And I talk about vindictiveness, but he’s mean.”
Us Weekly has reached out to Roker’s spokesperson for comment.
Billy Bush tried to stay busy after he was fired from the Today show in 2016. “My brother is my best friend … [and] he was there for me. I would never have survived without him,” Bush, 53, said on the Thursday, July 10, episode of the “Literally! With Rob Lowe” podcast. “Then my pastor [was […]
Bush ultimately left Today in October 2016 after a video of the journalist having a lewd conversation with now-President Donald Trump in a hot mic moment during his time on Access Hollywood. In the clip, Bush was heard laughing with Trump, now 79, as he bragged about flirting with married women and touching women’s genitals without their consent. Bush immediately apologized for his actions following the scandal.
“Obviously, I’m embarrassed and ashamed,” Bush told Us in a statement immediately after the tape resurfaced. “It’s no excuse, but this happened 11 years ago — I was younger, less mature and acted foolishly in playing along. I’m very sorry.”
Bush was suspended from Today and subsequently fired from the morning show.