Billy Bush Hires Lawyer, Defends Anchor's Role in Donald Trump Tape

It looks like Billy Bush is gearing up for a legal battle with NBC.

The 45-year-old television personality has hired attorney Marshall Grossman for representation, ET can confirm. Marshall is no stranger to high-profile clients, having represented J.K. Rowling, Larry King, Mariah Carey, Erin Andrews, and more celebs in the past.

Bush has been suspended indefinitely from his Today show job since Monday for his role in the 2005 tape of Donald Trump making lewd comments about women, in which the then Access Hollywood host could be heard laughing along. It remains unclear if he will be fired.

WATCH: Meredith Vieira Says Donald Trump's Leaked Conversation With Billy Bush 'Wasn't Surprising'

Grossman wouldn't comment on the negotiations with NBC, but did defend Bush's role in the Trump tape.

Billy Bush Lawyers Up After NBC Fallout

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"If Billy had been passive or responded 'Shut the f**k up' to Trump, Billy would have been out of a job the next day," Grossman tells ET.

On Wednesday, ET confirmed that Bush has also hired a public relations crisis management company to help him handle the continued fallout from the video.

Bush has already apologized for the tape, telling ET in a statement shortly after it surfaced, "Obviously I'm embarrassed and ashamed. It's no excuse, but this happened 11 years ago -- I was younger, less mature, and acted foolishly in playing along. I'm very sorry."

In an internal memo obtained by ET, Today show senior producer Noah Oppenheim said on Sunday that "there is simply no excuse for Billy's language and behavior on that tape" and that Bush has been suspended "pending further review of this matter."

WATCH: EXCLUSIVE -- Nancy O'Dell Addresses Donald Trump Comments on 'Entertainment Tonight'

A few of Bush's past co-workers have defended him after the Trump scandal, including Kit Hoover, who hosted Access Hollywood Live with the father of three from 2010 to this year, when he left to co-anchor Today.

"The tapes are inexcusable. But I'm watching this tape and I’m watching this person -- those tapes were a decade ago and it was seven minutes of someone's life," Hoover said to her new co-host, Natalie Morales, while discussing the tape. "And all I can tell you is what I know and the person that I sat next to for the last six years, and that person for me is a totally different person."

Watch below:

Billy Bush's Former Colleagues Defend Him as His Future at 'Today' Remains Unknown

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