North Carolina football coach Bill Belichick spoke out in support of his girlfriend Jordon Hudson after she stepped in during a CBS interview, saying she was “simply doing her job.”
Belichick, a six-time Super Bowl winner and now a college coach at UNC, shared a statement through the school on Wednesday following his appearance on “CBS News Sunday Morning,” where he was promoting his upcoming book about his coaching career. In the interview, Hudson responded to a question about how she and Belichick met, while CBS’s Tony Dokoupil referred to her as a “constant presence” during the segment.
Belichick said, “The final eight-minute segment does not reflect the productive 35-minute conversation which we had, which covered a wide range of topics related to my career.” He added that the edited piece used short clips and images from just a few minutes to create a false idea that Hudson was trying to control the discussion, which he said wasn’t true.
Belichick mentioned that he had told his publicist at Simon & Schuster that any interviews for the book should “agree to focus solely on the contents of the book.” CBS News, however, responded with its own statement on Wednesday.
“When we agreed to speak with Mr. Belichick, it was for a wide-ranging interview,” CBS said. “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.”
The unusual interview added to the public interest surrounding 73-year-old Belichick and 24-year-old Hudson. Since taking the job at UNC in December, Belichick has been adjusting to college coaching, and Hudson has often shared parts of their relationship online. A report from The Assembly in March said Belichick had even asked a UNC athletic official to copy Hudson on emails sent to him.
Bill Belichick after the gameBelichick said in his statement that he and Hudson share “both a personal and professional relationship” and that he believed the interview would stay focused on the book. He explained that Hudson “stepped in to reiterate that point to help refocus the discussion” and to make sure the conversation stayed on track.
He also confirmed that they “have been open about the fact that Jordon and I met on a flight to Palm Beach in 2021.”
During the CBS interview, Belichick seemed unconcerned about the attention their relationship receives. “Never been too worried about what everybody else thinks, just try to do what I feel like is best for me and what’s right,” he said.
When Dokoupil asked how they first met, Hudson, sitting nearby, answered firmly: “We’re not talking about this.”
On Tuesday, InkWell Management, the agency working with Belichick on his book, said the interview “veered” into personal topics and led to “a raft of hostile social media posts about his personal life.”
“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 agency said.