After their controversial exits from the Today show, Tamron Hall and Billy Bush are back on the market and ready to host new shows. Us Weekly can confirm that the two TV personalities are separately pitching new ideas to networks for talk shows following their departures from NBC.
“Billy Bush has been pitching a news or news talk show for the morning, starring himself,” a source told Us. “No one is biting or picking it up. He’s still not someone networks want to touch and comes with too much baggage.” Bush was fired from his gig as a Today cohost in the aftermath of his role in the now-infamous Donald Trump Access Hollywood video from 2005. The video was leaked to The Washington Post in October 2016 and it showed the TV host going along with the lewd remarks the now-president made about women. At first NBC suspended Bush pending a review, but eventually fired him later that month.
Meanwhile, according to an insider close to Hall, 47, she is also working on a new talk show. “Tamron and her team have been pitching a talk show for her,” the source told Us. “They think it could be big.” The former Today show personality also had a daytime talk show in the works with Harvey Weinstein. Weinstein Television announced the news in July, but the show’s future is now up in the air after the film producer was hit with multiple sexual misconduct allegations in October.
“I’ve been working towards developing a talk show for a long time but needed to make sure I did it the right way and with the right person to take the lead. Tamron is far and away that person,” Weinstein said in a statement about the show in July. “She’s an exceptionally talented journalist whose interviews masterfully walk the line between entertainment and hard hitting. We couldn’t be more thrilled to begin this new venture with her.”
NBC announced in February that Hall was leaving the network and MSNBC. She joined Today in 2014 and MSNC in 2007. As Us Weekly previously reported, Hall was surprised by the news and told that she was being taken off the show for Megyn Kelly “only minutes before going on air.”
The National Association of Black Journalists accused NBC of “whitewashing” following Hall’s departure. “The National Association of Black Journalists is saddened by Tamron Hall’s departure from NBC,” the organization wrote on its website at the time. “She broke ground as the first black female Today show cohost and was enjoying ratings success alongside Al Roker during the show’s third hour of programming. NBC has been a leader for diversity in broadcasting, but recent reports that Hall and Roker will be replaced by former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly are being seen by industry professionals as whitewashing.”
“NBC News has a long and proven history as an industry leader in newsroom diversity,” a spokesperson for NBC said in a statement. “We will continue to engage in the running dialogue we’ve had for many years with the National Association of Black Journalists and other advocacy groups to advance those goals.”
The former MSNBC anchor also released a statement regarding her exit. “The last 10 years have been beyond anything I could have imagined, and I’m grateful,” she said at the time. “I’m also very excited about the next chapter. To all my great colleagues, I will miss you and I will be rooting for you.”
