In an email our tipster, who worked out of Access Hollywood's LA office and was one of those unfortunately laid off, said this:

"It was a bloodbath and came out of nowhere! They laid off a ton of people."

We don't have much more information, but maybe you do—If so, send us an email to fill us in! Did Billy Bush get canned? Does Nancy O'Dell still have a job? A nation anxiously waits to know.

UPDATE: A source close to the show contacted Gawker after this post went up to inform us that the "bloodbath" consisted of seven Los Angeles-based Access Hollywood staffers that were laid off today.

We also received this statement from an NBC Universal spokesperson:

"We continue to think strategically about how we can conduct our business in this changing economy."

Flackery at its finest ladies and gentleman.

boomp3.com



At the premiere of Kung Fu Panda, Dustin Hoffman had to step away from the Access Hollywood booth due to an interview that he thought he was too intense to handle so early on a Sunday morning. Hoffman remained mum about Access Hollywood's Billy Bush's particular line of questioning, but Hoffman did call Bush "the Woodward AND the Bernstein" of entertainment journalism. He also bristled when Bush called him "Dusty." "Dusty is a nickname reserved for friends, family and cast members in retrospective interviews," Hoffman said. Billy Bush offered up a different version of the story saying that he only asked Hoffman the standard questions. The standard questions included: his thoughts on Lindsay Lohan maybe dating DJ Samantha Ronson, does he know if Angelina Jolie has given birth for reals yet, what was it like working with Angelina Jolie, his thoughts about Heidi & Spencer and The Hills, what's up with the price of gasoline, what he'll be doing to celebrate the Fourth Of July and, finally, his recommendation for a good beach read. Bush said, "It's not like I asked him to solve the energy crisis or to rationalize the presidency of how George W. Bush!"

[Photo Credit: Splash Pics]

Was it planned? Boy or girl? Has she picked a name? What's her theory about children and tattoos? Virtually nothing is off-limits, and it's all covered in the clip above. As always, enjoy—as if we even had to remind you to do that.

• Nicole Richie, Part I [Access Hollywood]

Late yesterday afternoon, we briefly noted the flap over international gigolo Richard Gere's osculatory battery of Indian actress Shilpa Shetty at a New Dehli AIDS rally, which prompted outraged protestors to set ablaze effigies of the satyr/activist for his public violation of their cherished star. Since we realize that our previous, blockquoted summary of the story was woefully inadequate in fully communicating the intricacies of this complicated matter, we point you to the fine work of Access Hollywood Cultural Analyst William "Billy" Bush, whose deep knowledge of Indian mores allow him to break down the shocking video of the event frame by frame and explain Gere's transgression with Zapruderesque attention to every taboo-violating detail.

• Access Hollywood
• Previously: Richard Gere Causes Uproar In India After Publicly Sampling The Busty Bollywood Goods [Defamer]