North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick has released a statement through UNC after his controversial interview with CBS over the weekend.
Belichick sat down with the network to discuss and promote his new book “The Art of Winning” for an interview that aired on Sunday. His 24-year-old girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, was also there for the interview and was a “constant presence” as it took place, according to Tony Dokoupil, who conducted the interview.
Belichick defended Hudson in his statement about the interview, claiming that CBS asked questions it wasn’t supposed to and edited the interview in a deceiving way.
“I agreed to speak with CBS Sunday Morning to promote my new book,” the statement begins. “Prior to this interview, I clearly communicated with my publicist at Simon & Schuster that any promotional interviews I participated in would agree to focus solely on the contents of the book.
“Unfortunately, that expectation was not honored during the interview. I was surprised when unrelated topics were introduced, and I repeatedly expressed to the reporter, Tony Dokoupil, and the producers that I preferred to keep the conversation centered on the book.”
Bill Belichick went on to explain that eventually his girlfriend Jordon Hudson interrupted the interview in an effort to get it back on track after questions unrelated to the book were asked several times.
“After this occurred several times, Jordon, with whom I share both a personal and professional relationship, stepped in to reiterate that point to help refocus the discussion,” the statement reads.
“She was not deflecting any specific question or topic but simply doing her job to ensure the interview stayed on track. Some of the clips make it appear as though we were avoiding the question of how we met, but we have been open about the fact that Jordon and I met on a flight to Palm Beach in 2021.”
Finally, Belichick said that the final interview was aired in a way to create a false narrative. The interview has attracted plenty of attention, with Barstool Sports Founder Dave Portnoy coming out and saying that he is concerned for Bill Belichick after Hudson interrupted the interview.
However, Belichick insists that the issue was with CBS and not Hudson.
“The final eight-minute segment does not reflect the productive 35-minute conversation we had, which covered a wide range of topics related to my career,” the statement reads. “Instead, it presents selectively edited clips and stills from just a few minutes of the interview to suggest a false narrative — that Jordon was attempting to control the conversation — which is simply not true.”
