"There is no room for objectification of women, or anyone for that matter — not even in the locker room," Nancy O'Dell says on "Entertainment Tonight."
On the Monday night broadcast of "Entertainment Tonight," host Nancy O'Dell will speak about the 2005 video in which then-"Access Hollywood" host Billy Bush sucks up to Donald Trump bragging about sexual assault.
Donald Trump has since become the GOP presidential nominee, on a platform that is consistent with what you hear on that tape: complete disregard for the inherent humanity of women.
In the leaked tape, Trump and Bush speak about Nancy O'Dell in a manner that can only be described as rapey. Trump boasts that his fame, power and privilege allow him to sexually assault women with impunity.
"Entertainment Tonight" has released an early clip from O'Dell's message to viewers tonight. The full message airs on "ET."
"I feel it's very important that I address you all directly," O'Dell says.
"As a journalist for 26 years now, it is my job to bring you news about others, rather than turning the focus on myself. But by now, I'm sure that most of you have heard the audio tape which became national news and part of the presidential race. My name was mentioned and, unfortunately, the release of it has thrown me into the middle of the political arena of which I didn't ask to be a part."
"I released a statement on Saturday and I truly mean what I said," she continued. "There is no room for objectification of women, or anybody for that matter, not even in the 'locker room.'"
On Saturday, O'Dell's written statement said she was "saddened that these comments still exist in our society at all."
"When I heard the comments yesterday, it was disappointing to hear such objectification of women," the statement read. "The conversation needs to change because no female, no person, should be the subject of such crass comments, whether or not cameras are rolling. Everyone deserves respect no matter the setting or gender. As a woman who has worked very hard to establish her career, and as a mom, I feel I must speak out with the hope that as a society we will always strive to be better."
Since the damning "hot mic" footage was released Friday afternoon, Trump has repeatedly dismissed the recorded boasts of being a serial sexual predator as "locker room talk."
In the St. Louis town hall debate Sunday night, he aggressively repeated that dismissive phrase a number of times, adding, "I'm not proud of it. I apologize to my family, I apologize to the American people." Then, the GOP nominee spewed a hot stream of rotten word salad at the camera, in which he deflected responsibility for his self-confessed predatory and illegal behavior, and sort of blamed Bill Clinton and ISIS for it all. It doesn't matter. Seriously, this whole thing is so gross and I'm so ready for the flaming hot meteor to strike and anhilate the planet. Hold me.
Our Rob Beschizza cleaned up Trump's "hostage video" apology from Friday night, and removed all the bullshit.
From Variety:
Meanwhile, Bush was not on the "Today" show this morning, as he's been suspended, pending review. On Tuesday's broadcast of the NBC morning show, Carson Daly will fill in for Bush, though it's unclear if he will co-anchor the 9 a.m. hour with Tamron Hall for more days afterword. Bush issued an apology Friday evening, following the swift social media firestorm that erupted after the video surfaced.
[Via ET]
