Donald Trump’s lewd ‘Access Hollywood’ tape commemorated
LOS ANGELES: A plaque briefly marked the spot where Donald Trump was recorded bragging about groping women on the now infamous “Access Hollywood” video that threatened to derail his 2016 presidential campaign.
The satirical memorial plate was put up by pranksters in the parking lot of NBC’s studio in Burbank, California, at the exact spot where Trump made the lewd comments to celebrity interviewer Billy Bush.
“On this spot in September 2005 Donald J. Trump bragged about committing sexual assault,” the plaque read.
“In November 2016, he was elected President of the United States.”
“Legends of Tomorrow” visual effects editor Seth Gottlieb wrote on Facebook that the producers of his show were responsible with the stunt, which he said was “in dishonour of our President.”
Gottlieb’s message, which includes a picture of the plaque, was posted last week but only attracted significant attention on Friday, when it was shared widely on social media.
The show’s executive producer, Phil Klemmer, said on Twitter that the plaque lasted about 15 minutes before studio workers took it down.
Bush — who at the time was with the NBC show “Access Hollywood” — is seen on the video bantering with Trump, then the billionaire host of the hit reality show “The Apprentice,” when the conversation turns to women.
“I don’t even wait,” Trump tells a laughing Bush. “And when you’re a star, they let you do it, you can do anything... grab them by the pussy.”
The videotape was leaked to the Washington Post in October 2016, at the height of the US presidential election campaign.
Trump, who dismissed his comments as “locker room banter,” issued an apology in a brief video clip.
On the anniversary of the video’s release, women’s rights group UltraViolet played the video on a loop for 12 hours near the White House earlier this month. — AFP