Billy Bush is said to be “livid” over his exclusion from a video aired Friday commemorating the 70-year history of the “Today” show.
Bush was fired from “Today” in 2016 after footage leaked from his former show “Access Hollywood,” in which he engaged in lewd talk in an outtake with Donald Trump in 2005.
The infamous tape ended Bush’s stint on NBC’s powerful morning show after a mere two months — and according to Bush himself, sent him down a spiral marked by months of heavy drinking, loafing on the couch and crying.
On Friday, a 12- minute video celebrating “Today’s” 70-year anniversary only added insult to injury, a source said, noting that the tape included practically every talking head who worked on the show — even the disgraced Matt Lauer.
Lauer, who was ousted from NBC in 2017 amid accusations of sexual misconduct and assault, appeared briefly a few times in the video — including one snippet of Lauer on 9/11 and another reporting from Egypt, standing in front of the Sphinx wearing khaki shorts and shades.
“Billy was livid they included everyone except him,” a source close to Bush said. “When they chose to include Matt Lauer — who was accused of anally raping a young staff member
while on a work trip — but chose not to include Billy, you know something is very wrong.”
NBC declined to comment. Bush didn’t return requests for comment.
Although Bush’s run on “Today” was short, sources noted that the video was thorough, including everyone from Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, Craig Melvin and Al Roker to Carson Daly, Katie Couric, Ann Curry, Jane Pauley and Bryant Gumbel.
The show even unearthed old black and white clips featuring the likes of Frank Blair, John Chancellor and Barbara Walters.
“It is like Billy never existed,” the source said, calling NBC a network of “mean girls.”
But some insiders don’t feel so bad for the anchor, whose presence on “Today” was scant compared with Lauer’s 20-year career. The 50-year-old Bush, who is the nephew of the late president George H. Bush, has a “big ego” and “inflated sense of self,” a source sniffed.
In TV circles, Bush, who now hosts entertainment show “Extra,” is called “Bully Bush” by some for his demanding ways.
“The ‘Today’ show is like an old girlfriend he can’t quit,” the source said. “He’s obsessed. He needs to let it go.”