Am I correctly understanding "red carpet presence"?

Question

First of all, thank you for your kind assistance in advance.

I was just reading this article, and I encountered a personally unfamiliar expression.

Saying,

Though Today long had been among Bush's ambitions, his hiring as the co-host of the 9 a.m. hour was somewhat controversial given his lack of hard-news experience and a snarky red carpet presence. ( 3rd paragraph ).

Now, first I had thought this might be an idiom, however when I googled, nothing came up so I resorted to Wikipedia just for some info.

Now, since according to Wikipedia,

A red carpet is also used in gala celebrity events

So I assume that "red carpet presence" would mean Bush would've gone to the stardom life, which did not come but on the contrary, and going back to the question, am I correct about catching the meaning of the core meaning of the "red carpet presence"?

Thank you for your support and I am sorry I have to say in advance I may be not able to answer or comment or upvote just in 6 hours.

Thank you very much (m_m)

Answer 1

In this context, red carpet refers not so much to the literal red carpet, but the publicity event that takes place at the red carpet. From the same Wikipedia page

A red carpet is also used in gala celebrity events such as the Academy Awards, Grammy Awards, Met Gala and BAFTAs. While the awards take place inside, much of the publicity and excitement takes place outside with journalists discussing the red carpet fashions, what designers are being worn by which stars and photographers taking pictures. This is now a spectacular international product placement arena of great importance to the fashion industry. Red carpets are often coupled with publicity backdrops which contain brand logos or emblems for photography purposes.

So someone's red carpet presence refers to how that person behaves or presents themselves at one of these events.

Now, if we were talking about a celebrity, then their red carpet presence would refer to how they respond during interviews that take place at the red carpets, what kind of fashion they wear there, or something similar. However, Billy Bush is not a celebrity (as far as I know). Instead, he worked as correspondent and anchor for Access Hollywood, an entertainment news program. This means that when he was there at the red carpets, he was usually the one doing the interviews. So his presence was one of an interviewer/correspondent and not one of a interviewee/celebrity. His "snarky red carpet presence" implies he was a snarky correspondent/interviewer.