Billy Bush Calls Al Roker a Vindictive Bully Over Brief Today Show Stint

Billy Bush has claimed that while he was hired to help anchor the third hour of NBC’s Today, the network was already planning to remove Al Roker from that role despite a supposed long-term deal. In a recent account, Bush said the show’s management believed the hour would not succeed with Roker as the main interviewer, describing him as unprepared and saying executives saw him as “toxic.” According to Bush, the idea was for him to become the lead figure and reshape the hour into a lighter, more talk-show-style format similar to Regis & Kelly.

Bush said he was told by Today’s general manager, Noah Oppenheim, that he would need to stay on until March, after which the network would allegedly try to end Roker’s arrangement and replace him. Bush’s comments suggest that internal discussions about the future of the third hour were already underway before his own short-lived run on the program fully began.

However, those plans never materialized. Bush’s tenure at Today ended in October 2016, when NBC dismissed him following the release of the Access Hollywood recording involving Donald Trump. The tape, recorded in 2005, captured a vulgar conversation in which Trump made crude and widely condemned comments about women. The leak triggered a major media and political backlash and ultimately led to Bush’s exit from the morning show.

The remarks add a new layer to the long-running discussion about the behind-the-scenes changes at Today during that period, especially as NBC attempted to adjust the tone and structure of the program’s third hour. Bush’s claims also revive questions about how much of the network’s on-air lineup strategy was driven by ratings concerns, internal politics, and personality clashes.

Roker, a longtime Today presence, has remained a central figure on the show over the years, while Bush’s brief period at NBC became most widely remembered for the scandal that ended his run. The latest comments place fresh attention on the internal dynamics surrounding that transition and the network’s apparent plans for the hour before the controversy erupted.