Bill Belichick Criticizes CBS News For Asking Interview Questions Beyond Just His Book

Bill Belichick is aiming to clarify an incident where girlfriend Jordon Hudson appeared to awkwardly interrupt his CBS Sunday Morning interview.

In a statement from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where Belichick is a head coach, the iconic former New England Patriots coach said he agreed to speak to the CBS morning show to promote his new book, The Art of Winning – Lessons from My Life in Football.

“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,” the statement reads.

But off-camera attempts to keep the interview centered on the book promotion apparently failed.

“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. She was not deflecting any specific question or topic but simply doing her job to ensure the interview stayed on track,” Belichick said.

North Carolina’s head football coach also denied Hudson had tried to control the interview with her interventions. “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,” Belichick added.

“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. 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,” he added in the statement.

For their part, CBS Sunday Morning execs claim the interview with Belichick had no pre-set conditions about what could or could not be discussed. “When we agreed to speak with Mr. Belichick, it was for a wide-ranging interview. There were no preconditions or limitations to this conversation. This was confirmed repeatedly with his publisher before the interview took place and after it was completed,” a CBS News spokesperson said in a statement obtained by THR.

InkWell Management, which represents Belichick’s literary properties, in its own statement said the CBS Sunday Morning show “veered into” discussing the football coach’s private life, which prompted a slew of hostile social media posts.

“Bill has written an authoritative and entertaining book about success that should be judged by its contents, not by the clicks generated by the segment,” the statement said.

April 30, 1:30 p.m. Updated with a statement from CBS News.