Broadcaster NBC has suspended Today show personality Billy Bush indefinitely after he was caught on a video from 2005 in a crude conversation about women with Republican White House candidate Donald Trump.
Today executive producer Noah Oppenheim said "there is simply no excuse for Billy's language and behaviour on that tape".
Bush, who hosts the third hour of the Today show, has been suspended "pending further review of the matter", Mr Oppenheim said.
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NBC announced its decision two days after the video from the Access Hollywood archives surfaced. He was a host for that show in 2005, and he was taped in a hot-mic discussion with Mr Trump when the future presidential nominee was on a Hollywood set to make an appearance on a soap opera.
On the tape, Mr Trump brags about kissing, groping and trying to have sex with women. Bush joins in, laughing at some of Mr Trump's comments and later encouraging an actress to hug Mr Trump.
Bush, 44, a married father of three and the nephew of former president George Bush senior, has been brutalised on his own Facebook page since the tape surfaced. Hundreds of hostile comments were attached to his last posting on Friday - of him distributing a plate of bacon to Today viewers outside the show's studio.
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"You are sickening!" one woman wrote, in a comment that nearly 5,000 had "liked" through Sunday afternoon.
Angering women viewers of a show as important to NBC's bottom line as Today is no small matter. Many viewers upset by 2012's messy dumping of Ann Curry as Today host took it out on colleague Matt Lauer; the show's ratings have still not recovered. Women make up the majority of Today viewers, particularly in the last two hours.
Bush has only been at Today for two months, where he has had a rocky start. He was the reporter to whom American swimmer Ryan Lochte lied about being robbed at the Olympics. When Bush later tried to defend Lochte on Today, he was dressed down by colleague Al Roker.
The Access Hollywood tape was an embarrassment on multiple levels for NBC News. The news division for days had been aware of the tape from the NBC-owned entertainment show, but was scooped by The Washington Post on Friday when the newspaper was tipped off about its existence and got a story out within hours.
Read more: The Midge - Slugfest in St Louis as Trump comes out swinging against 'devil' Clinton
Bush issued a statement on Friday apologising for his actions.
The tape showed Bush and Mr Trump speaking as the Republican was about to appear on the daytime drama Days Of Our Lives. From the bus they had ridden to the set, Bush pointed out to Mr Trump an actress, Arianne Zucker, who was there to greet them.
Bush called the actress "hot", adding an expletive.
"I've gotta use some Tic Tacs, just in case I start kissing her," Mr Trump said. "You know, I'm automatically attracted to beautiful ... I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything."
"Grab them by the p***y. You can do anything," he added.
After getting off the bus, Bush asks the actress to hug Mr Trump, then adds, "How about a little hug for the Bushy?"
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