Former ‘Access Hollywood’ host Billy Bush to visit Colbert

Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show” has booked former “Today Show” and “Access Hollywood” host Billy Bush as a guest for its Monday night show.

Bush, who was fired from NBC in 2016 after being heard laughing on the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape featuring Donald Trump’s lewd comments on a hot mic, will be making his first appearance on the CBS program.

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The “Access Hollywood” tape was leaked to The Washington Post just two days before the second presidential debate between Trump and Hillary Clinton in October 2016.

It recently came back into the news after a Nov. 25 New York Times report said Trump allegedly told a senator that the tape was fake — despite apologizing for its contents after it was released last year.

One of the actresses who greeted Trump on the tape, soap star Arianne Zucker, told CNN that while she wasn’t present when Trump made his remarks to Bush on a bus, she couldn’t see how the audio recording could be fabricated.

“I don’t know how else that could be fake unless someone’s planting words in your mouth,” Zucker told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Monday. “How do you apologize for something and renege on it? It’s puzzling to me.”

Bush, 46, will also likely be answering questions around his former colleague and former “Today” show host Matt Lauer, who was ousted from the network this week amid sexual harassment claims by several women.

Bush was selected as the co-host of the third hour of “Today” in May 2016 before being terminated just five months later when the “Access Hollywood” tape emerged. Ironically, Lauer was the host who announced the news surrounding Bush’s dismissal. 

Colbert’s heavy focus on politics and anti-Trump material has led to a surge to the top of the late-night race on the ratings front in total viewers, easily topping ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel and knocking off former king Jimmy Fallon of NBC.