Billy Bush Makes Big Career Change

Billy Bush is stepping away from his hosting role at Extra after five years.

The longtime broadcaster announced Monday on his Hot Mics with Billy Bush podcast that he will be departing the half-hour entertainment news series when it returns for a 32nd season next fall.

“After an amazing five years hosting Extra, I am moving on to continue building out my Hot Mics digital platform,” he shared. “Extra is culturally iconic. If I had a dollar for every time someone hollered, ‘Extra! Extra!’ to me at an airport or something, I’d buy Warner Bros.”

Bush called it a “tremendous honor and privilege” to front Extra, adding, “We were there for each other at this pivotal time in 2019, I’m proud of it. It’s now time to build something of my own.”

“I’m forever grateful to the amazing staff at Extra and the executives at Warner Bros. for this awesome chapter of my life. I mean every word of that. I have had a tremendous run,” he concluded.

In a statement to Deadline, Extra executive producers Theresa Coffino and Jeremy Spiegel, said, “Billy is the consummate broadcaster, a brilliant interviewer and a force of nature. We are grateful for his contributions to Extra, we will miss him and we look forward to seeing his next chapter.”

“We are so grateful to Billy for five standout seasons with Extra,” added Lauren Blincoe, Senior Vice President, Current Programming of Telepictures. “His dedication, experience and sharp reporting are just a few of the meaningful contributions he made on the show and with audiences alike. We thank him for the role he has played in shaping this chapter of Extra and we wish him continued success in what’s ahead.”

Bush replaced Mario Lopez as the entertainment news show’s host in 2019 following Lopez’s move to Access Hollywood, where Bush had hosted for 15 years until 2016. Bush had exited his role at Access Hollywood to become co-host of the third hour of TODAY, but it wasn’t long after he took on that co-anchor role that audio from a 2005 interaction between Bush and then-presidential candidate Donald Trump surfaced.

“I moved on her like a b—h, but I couldn’t get there. And she was married,” said Trump, who would go on to win his first bid for president four weeks after the audio’s release. He continued that “when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything,” to which Bush replied, “Whatever you want.” Trump added, “Grab them by the p—y. You can do anything.”

Days after the audio’s release, TODAY announced Bush’s exit. In May 2017, Bush told The Hollywood Reporter that he regretted the conversation with Trump. “I wish I had changed the topic. I wish I had said: ‘Does anyone want water?’ or ‘It looks like it’s gonna rain,’” Bush said. “He liked TV and competition. I could’ve said, ‘Can you believe the ratings on whatever?’ I didn’t have the strength of character to do it.”