Former NBC "Today" show host Billy Bush said the tape that surfaced during the 2016 presidential campaign featuring the lewd exchange between him and President Donald Trump brought his daughter to tears, he told ABC News on Monday.
Bush explained the 2005 video where he appeared to encourage Trump to talk about his ability to grope women because he was "a star" and other details of how he made moves on women led the former talk show host to apologize to his teenage daughter. At the time, Bush was the host of "Access Hollywood" and Trump was the star of NBC's "The Apprentice."
"There was a powerful moment, my now 16-year-old daughter called me . . . and she was in tears," Bush, 45, told "Good Morning America" in his first television interview since the tape was released.
"She was really upset, and I said, 'Mary, it's, it's, going to be OK. You know, don't worry,'" Bush said. "And she said, 'No. Why were you laughing at the things that he was saying on that bus? Why were you playing along with it, Dad? It wasn't funny,'" Bush said.
"I said, 'Mary, I am sorry. And there is no good answer for that,'" he added.
On the tape, Bush also could be heard laughing and encouraging Trump to hug "Days of Our Lives" actress Arianne Zucker as the two men were traveling to the soap opera set where Trump was scheduled to make a cameo appearance on the show.
Trump later apologized for the comments, calling the conversation "locker room banter."
Bush on Sunday told The Hollywood Reporter he was ready to return to television.
NBC announced they had fired Bush in October, shortly after his tape with Trump was revealed. He said he had spent his time off in reflection with a spiritual retreat, reading, meditating and yoga.
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