CBS has hit back at Bill Belichick after he claimed the network promoted a ‘false narrative’ and failed to honor a supposed agreement for a recent interview to solely focus on his new book.
Belichick released a lengthy statement on Wednesday through UNC after the release of his cringeworthy CBS Sunday Morning interview, in which his girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, was seen vetoing a question about how they met.
TMZ later reported that the 24-year-old had interrupted the session on several other occasions and at one point stormed off.
Now, CBS has denied violating any sort of agreement and said they had agreed to a ‘wide-ranging interview’ with Belichick.
‘When we agreed to speak with Mr. Belichick, it was for a wide-ranging interview,’ a statement from the network reads. ‘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 interview has led to massive backlash of the pair’s relationship, with Belichick’s friends reportedly concerned for him.
The 24-year-old Hudson muscled awkwardly into boyfriend Belichick’s CBS interview
Belichick and Hudson are pictured at the NFL Honors event ahead of February’s Super Bowl
Friends are said to be concerned by the influence that Hudson appears to have over Belichick
However, in his statement on Wednesday, he defended Hudson interjecting in his interview and said they had a ‘personal and professional relationship.’ He also said that CBS had used ‘selectively edited clips’ in the final cut of what was a 35-minute interview.
‘I agreed to speak with CBS Sunday Morning to promote my new book,’ the 73-year-old Belichick said. ‘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.
‘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. 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.
‘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.’
However, Belichick’s statement comes as The Athletic reported that Hudson wanted to be ‘heavily involved’ in a UNC-centric Hard Knocks, and that her presence was ‘instrumental’ in a deal breaking down.
She has previously identified in an email signature as the CEO of Belichick Productions while an email previously publicized by The Assembly showed that Belichick asked for her to be copied on all emails sent to him by UNC staffers.
