Billy Bush, the former Today show star, is splitting from his wife of 20 years, according to reports from TMZ. Bush’s representative confirmed the split on Tuesday. Bush, 45-years old, married Sydney Davis when he was 25.
The representative said, “They separated for the moment to evaluate their life together. They love each other and their children deeply and are committed to a bright future.” The couple has three children together: Mary, Josie and Lillie.
Bush’s career went from being a household name to being fired from the Today show in October 2016. Bush was fired after the release of a video tape with Donald Trump during a 2005 interview. The video showed Trump and Bush making lewd comments.
Bush tried to return to television in June, but his comeback has been unsuccessful.
Sources close to the matter suggest that the leaked tape was the main reason for the couple’s divorce. Rumors suggest that Sydney would not speak to her husband for days following the tape’s release. Bush failed to change to topic of conversation on the tape, and instead, he seemed to encourage the behavior.
Arianna Zucker, the woman that Trump and Bush were speaking about in the tape, was then encouraged to give Trump a hug by Bush.
Bush expressed that he should have changed the topic of conversation at the time. “But I didn’t have the strength of character to do it,” he states.
“She was so furious that she refused to speak with him for a while – and she’s still furious. They are having marriage problems. He didn’t apologize to her for the embarrassment he caused in his statement,” states Inquisitr.
Representatives for Bush confirm the divorce, but not that Davis has left her husband. The representative states that they’ve “separated.”
Melania Trump’s reaction to the tape was less rash. The wife of Donald Trump criticized her husband’s tape, but chalked it up to “locker room talk.”
The tape, from 2005, included lewd talk between Trump and Bush, with Trump being more aggressive. The tape leaked during Trump’s run for presidency. “I don’t event wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it, you can do anything.”
Trump stated that there is far worse talk on the golf course than what was said on the tape.
Bush, for the most part, didn’t match Trump’s locker room talk. The host did face backlash for saying “Zucker is hot” during the interview. Backlash from fans and viewers flooded Bush’s social media accounts.
