Donald trmpu you can do anything to women when you're a star
Executive summary
The phrase in question — that “when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything” — appears verbatim in a 2005 recording of Donald Trump published by major outlets in 2016, in which he also says “grab them by the p----,” and that recording has been repeatedly documented and excerpted by outlets including The Washington Post/NBC, PBS, AP, BBC and others [1] [2] [3] [4]. Reporting shows the line is real, widely circulated, and central to ongoing debates over his treatment of women and claims about consent [1] [5].
1. What the tape records and how reliably it’s reported
The lewd remarks were captured on a bus in 2005 and published as the “Access Hollywood” tape in October 2016; transcripts and full reporting reproduce the phrase “and when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab ’em by the pussy,” with multiple mainstream outlets presenting the same language and audio excerpts [1] [2] [4] [6].
2. Context offered by major outlets and the recording’s provenance
Journalistic accounts place the quotes in a wider, informal conversation between Trump and TV host Billy Bush while en route to film a show segment; outlets such as The Washington Post, NBC, PBS and BBC documented the recording, published transcripts, and framed it amid other admissions on the tape about kissing and groping without waiting for consent [1] [2] [5] [4].
3. Immediate political and cultural fallout documented by reporting
The tape provoked intense media coverage, public backlash, campaign criticism, and became a touchstone in discussions about Trump’s fitness for office; news reporting links the tape to intensified scrutiny of his past comments and allegations from women, and to campaigns and social responses such as boycotts and viral movements [3] [1] [7].
4. How defenders and critics frame the line and its meaning
Some of Trump’s defenders have dismissed the remarks as “locker room talk” and emphasized his later denials of non‑consensual acts, while critics and many journalists argue the language normalizes assault and reflects a pattern of demeaning comments toward women; reporting notes both the denials and the contrary accounts from multiple women and commentators who see the tape as evidence of dehumanizing attitudes [2] [1] [7].
5. Debate over interpretation — consent, boasting, and legal vs. rhetorical consequences
News coverage records a contested reading: some commentators and even certain analyses cited in reporting have argued the full transcript could be read as implying consent in context, while others and numerous accusers treat the boast as an admission of predatory conduct; reporting explicitly flags that interpretation disputes exist but does not resolve legal culpability — that remains outside the scope of the tapes themselves [1].
6. The tape as part of a documented pattern in Trump’s public remarks
Independent compilations, archival collections and mainstream outlets have cataloged many other sexist and sexualized comments attributed to Trump across decades, positioning the Access Hollywood line within a broader pattern of remarks about women’s bodies, looks and roles documented by sources including Cosmopolitan, TIME, The Week and archival repositories [8] [7] [9] [10].
7. What can and cannot be concluded from the available reporting
The factual claim that Trump said “when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything” on the 2005 tape is supported by multiple, independent mainstream reports and transcripts [1] [2] [4]. Beyond that empirical finding, reporting records disputes over the statement’s legal meaning, the degree to which it proves non‑consensual conduct, and how it should be weighed politically; those larger judgments depend on additional evidence, legal standards, and normative interpretations not settled by the quoted line alone [1] [3].