Billy Bush has been raked over the coals for nearly outing Ricky Martin, years before the pop star announced he was gay.
From his rise to global stardom with Livin’ La Vida Loca in 1999 to the time he went public with his sexuality in 2010, speculation swirled around the nature of Ricky’s love life, fueled by his flamboyant stage persona.
In the early 2000s, Billy – a cousin of then-U.S. President George W. Bush – was a young ambitious reporter at Access Hollywood who landed an interview with Ricky.
The night before the taping, Billy asked a claque of women in a hotel bar what they wanted to know about the singer and they all responded: ‘Is he gay?’
But when Billy floated the question to Ricky the next day, he was met with a furious outburst in which his subject called him a ‘motherf***er,’ tore off his microphone and stormed off the set in the middle of the interview.
Now Billy, 53, has apologetically told the story on Literally! with Rob Lowe – but despite his contrition, some social media users reacted with fury at his indelicacy.
Billy Bush (left) has been raked over the coals for nearly outing Ricky Martin (right), years before the pop star announced he was gay
‘Billy Bush is an a hole,’ wrote one Facebook commenter as another fumed: ‘Billy Bush is a Bush and they are all [snake emojis].’
Another social media user made what appeared to be a sly reference to Billy’s leaked hot mic tape with Donald Trump, in which the latter bragged about being able to ‘grab’ women ‘by the p***y’ because ‘when you’re a star, they let you do it.’
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‘Billy Bush seems to have been very interested in everyone’s sex life,’ a Facebook commenter wryly observed. ‘He must not have been getting any himself.’
Others took a more relaxed view of the encounter, such as an X user who joked: ‘Did he say he’s straight? That would be the only shocking “outing” here,’ or a Facebook commenter who sniggered: ‘Should’ve called him a c***sucker.’
At the time when Billy met Ricky, the singer had already given an interview to Barbara Walters, who grilled him about his gay rumors in an uncomfortable exchange that she later expressed remorse for and he later described as having given him ‘PTSD.’
As a rising television personality himself, Billy was anxious to pursue the ‘newsmaker’ question of Ricky’s sexual orientation.
In the lobby bar of his Miami hotel the night before his taping with Ricky was scheduled, Billy asked some of the other patrons: ‘All right, ladies, I’m interviewing Ricky Martin tomorrow. What do you wanna know?’
They all responded: ‘Is he gay?’ leaving Billy with the impression that the audience watching the broadcast would also be thinking of the same topic.
The firestorm of gay rumors surrounding Ricky – who is pictured playing a Latin Grammys event in Las Vegas in 2007 – was fueled by his flamboyant stage persona
The night before the taping, Billy asked bar patrons what they wanted to know about the singer and they all responded: ‘Is he gay?’; Ricky pictured at the 2005 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show
Ricky came out as a ‘fortunate homosexual man’ on in 2010, saying: ‘Allowing myself to be seduced by fear and insecurity became a self-fulfilling prophecy of sabotage; pictured 2006
He was conflicted about posing such a ‘personal question,’ and when he told his producer: ‘I think I’m gonna ask him,’ she replied: ‘Yeah…I don’t know….’
During the interview, Billy asked: ‘Ricky, I asked eight people in a lobby bar last night what they wanted to know about you, and they all said the same thing.’
Ricky stiffened and sharply demanded: ‘What?’ and Billy, screwing up his courage, continued: ‘They wanted to know if you’re gay.’
‘You motherf***er!’ Ricky allegedly erupted, tearing off his microphone. ‘Barbara Walters asked me this and now you. You don’t care at all about me. You want your headline. You want your this – you piece of garbage. Who do you think you are?’
Ricky stalked off the set, leaving Billy in aghast, wondering: ‘What just happened?’ while his producer agonized: ‘This is terrible.’
Within three minutes, Billy’s phone was flooded with calls from Los Angeles as the show bosses lambasted him for fumbling the interview.
Billy recalled feeling ‘badly’ about the way the conversation had gone because Ricky ‘was legitimately hurt, and I’m not in the business of hurting people. I’m in the business of figuring out who I am and where I’m going, and you need to be able to make mistakes in life – remember that, people,’ he told the podcast listenership.
Shortly after the blowup, Billy approached Ricky for a private conversation and apologized profusely for his handling of the interview.
In the early 2000s, Billy – a cousin of then-U.S. President George W. Bush – was a young ambitious reporter at Access Hollywood, whom he is pictured working for at the 2004 Emmys
Now Billy, 53, has apologetically told the story on Literally! with Rob Lowe – but despite his contrition, some social media users reacted with fury at his indelicacy
Others took a more tongue-in-cheek view of the encounter, such as an X user who joked: ‘Did he say he’s straight? That would be the only shocking “outing” here’
‘Ricky, I am so sorry for asking that question,’ Billy said. ‘I don’t know what I was thinking. It was a cowboy question. It was inappropriate. I’m so sorry and I promise you this will never see the light of day. I will smash that tape with a hammer.’
At that point Ricky told Ricky: ‘I’ve been struggling with this my whole life. There will be a time. There will be a place. It will not be here on this program while I’m promoting this album. It is deeply personal to me. I appreciate you coming back in here. I forgive you, and yes, destroy that tape if you would.’
Their talk concluded with a hug, and when they met two years later, the two men embraced again, signaling a genuine rapprochement between them.
‘And I learned a valuable lesson that day,’ Billy shared on Rob Lowe’s podcast. ‘Don’t be an a**hole. Don’t be an idiot. You have to find nuance in this business – who people are, where you can go, where you can’t.’
Ricky came out as a ‘fortunate homosexual man’ on in 2010, saying: ‘Allowing myself to be seduced by fear and insecurity became a self-fulfilling prophecy of sabotage. Today I take full responsibility for my decisions and my actions.’
In response to the news, Billy told a truncated version of the botched interview story on Access Hollywood and apologized publicly for his indiscreet question.
‘I felt terrible. Truth be told, I let my ambition overshadow my sensitivity and judgment,’ Billy said during the broadcast. ‘I went for the big question. I had no idea it would be at the expense of Ricky’s deepest feelings.’
They appear to be on warm terms now, as Ricky cheerfully gave Billy an interview for Extra on the red carpet of the Emmys this past September.