All through his profession, leisure persona Billy Bush has been a staple on reveals like “Entry Hollywood,” “Further,” and “At present.” However his tenure on the latter got here to an finish in 2016, after an audio clip of his lewd dialog with then-presidential candidate Donald Trump broke the web.
Throughout his time on the “Actually! With Rob Lowe” podcast, Billy Bush recalled being let go from the longstanding morning discuss present and defined how he bumped heads with former head honcho Matt Lauer on the way in which out.
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Billy Bush Remembers Bumping Heads With Matt Lauer After Being Fired From ‘At present’ In 2016
“He’s like, ‘I simply can’t get previous the irony that this occurred,’” Bush advised Lowe on the July 9, 2025, episode. “And he and I had a really stern dialog. I laid into him as a result of I stated to myself, ‘If I communicate to him once more I’m gonna lay into him.’ And I did.”
In response to Bush, he felt Lauer ought to’ve achieved extra to face up for him when he was fired from “At present.”
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“I stated, ‘I used to be at ‘Entry Hollywood’ for 15 years. I used to be the Huge Cheese there such as you’re the Huge Cheese on the ‘At present’ present,’” he stated. “‘Now I do know we’re dealing between a Cadillac and a jalopy, however nonetheless, I used to be the primary man there. And if a younger man who had joined us was man and you realize he’s man and he’s useful to the present and he’s good on the air and he’s received all the things that’s good for the workforce, you possibly can have stood up for me.’”
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Billy Bush Implied Lauer Was Jealous Of Him
Later, throughout his dialog with Lowe, Bush implied that another excuse he was bothered by Lauer was that he felt the Ohio College alum was jealous of him when he was employed by “At present.”
“Have them droop me, have them do no matter, however the blowing out of me and taking my total livelihood and profession and making me unemployable and simply wiping me out for one thing that’s 11 years outdated, it’s best to have stood up and also you didn’t,” Bush stated he advised Lauer, who was fired from “At present” in 2017. “And also you didn’t since you’re small. You didn’t need me round. I simply f-cking laid proper into the man and he stated, ‘No, no, no, I defended you in non-public.’ I’m like, ‘No, you didn’t, get the h-ll out of right here.’”
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Lauer Was Fired From ‘At present’ In 2017 For His Personal Scandal

Lauer joined the “At present” information workforce in 1994 earlier than being promoted to co-anchor in 1997.
He remained with the corporate till 2017, when he was fired after a feminine colleague made an in depth criticism accusing him of sexually assaulting her through the 2014 Sochi Olympics, per NBC Information.
Lauer was later accused of comparable conduct by further feminine colleagues, prompting NBC Information Chairman Andrew Lack to explain Lauer’s alleged actions as a “clear violation of our firm’s requirements.”
“Our highest precedence is to create a office setting the place everybody feels protected and guarded, and to make sure that any actions that run counter to our core values are met with penalties, regardless of who the offender,” Lack stated.
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Bush Had One other Intense Interplay With A Superstar Years Earlier than His Blowup With Lauer

Lauer is not the one movie star Bush has clashed with professionally.
Throughout his identical dialog with Lowe, the “Further” host additionally revealed he as soon as offended singer Ricky Martin after asking the “Livin’ La Vida Loca” performer whether or not he was homosexual.
“He stiffens up within the chair and he goes, ‘What?’ And I am going, ‘Oh boy,’” Bush stated, in accordance with a report from The Blast. “And he goes, ‘You motherf-cker,’ rips off his microphone.”
Bush defined that after his query, Martin walked away from the set, calling him a “piece of rubbish.”
Bush And Martin Made Amends

Later, Bush caught up with Martin, the place he apologized for his “inappropriate” conduct, saying, “I do not know what I used to be pondering. … I am so sorry, and I promise you it will by no means see the sunshine of day.”
Bush shared that Martin accepted his apology and advised the leisure persona that he meant to handle his sexuality along with his followers when he felt most comfy.
Years later, in 2010, Martin penned a letter on his web site, describing himself as a “lucky gay man.”
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“That is simply what I want, particularly now that I’m the daddy of two stunning boys which are so full of sunshine and who with their outlook train me new issues day by day,” Martin wrote. “These years in silence and reflection made me stronger and jogged my memory that acceptance has to come back from inside and that this sort of reality offers me the facility to beat feelings I didn’t even know existed.”