According to nearly every report out there, Billy Bush is not long for The Today Show.
Any day now – heck, any minute now – the embattled reporter will part ways with NBC and the aforementioned morning program.
And, according to a new gossip item, fellow Today Show anchors Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb have a message for Bush before he leaves:
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!
Or, actually, whatever: go ahead and let the door smack you right in your immature rear end.
A network insider allegedly tells Radar Online that Gifford and Kotb, who host their own (often drunk) hour of Today, “never really seemed to like Billy to begin with.”
For what reason?
They supposedly viewed Bush as more of a “red carpet reporter” than a serious journalist.
It’s not exactly hard to understand why they would form this point of view, considering Bush rose to fame as an anchor of Access Hollywood.
“Aside from that, Kathie and Hoda are fiercely protective of Matt and Al,” the network insider claimed, referring, of course, to Matt Lauer and Al Roker.
Bush and Roker famously got into an on-air disagreement this summer after Bush refused to call swimmer Ryan Lochte out as a liar.
Roker tried to sit calmly on the set and explain to Bush why Lochte had very clearly lied, repeatedly, after being the victim of robbery that never took place during the Olympics.
That scandal was nothing, of course, compared to footage from 2005 of Bush and Donald Trump on board an Access Hollywood bus.
It surfaced earlier this month and it featured Bush egging Trump on while the Presidential candidate talked about “grabbing” the genitalia of any woman he wanted to because he’s a “star” and could therefore get away with it.
Bush also referred to soap opera actress Arianne Zucker as being “hot as shit,” while telling Trump he “scored” because he would soon be shooting a cameo with her.
“When the tape leaked on Friday, Kathie and Hoda were among the people who wanted Billy suspended,” the source told Radar, even adding:
“They were instrumental in NBC’s decision.”
We find that a bit hard to believe.
Suspending and ultimately parting ways with Bush seems like a no-brainer for the network, considering the backlash that has ensued in light of this video.
We doubt executives really needed Gifford and Kotb to weigh in on the controversy.
But we have heard that Bush wasn’t liked across the spectrum of Today employees, which probably did make his quasi firing a lot easier to decide on.
There has been no one in Bush’s corner throughout this ordeal.
When the decision to take Bush off air indefinitely came down, the insider concludes of Kathie Lee and Hoda:
“They were practically jumping for joy!”
Now, that, we believe.
We’re also guessing they poured themselves a rather large glass of wine in celebration.