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Former Super Bowl champion and current North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Bill Belichick broke his silence on what he calls "selective editing" that led to backlash over his girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, being involved in his CBS Sunday Morning interview.
Belichick, 73, issued a statement claiming he "clearly communicated" to his publicist, Simon & Schuster, that all promotional interviews would "solely" be about his upcoming book, The Art of Winning -- Lessons from My Life in Football, which is set to be released next week and claims CBS News reporter Tony Dokoupil and producers didn't comply.
“Unfortunately, the expectation was not honored during the interview,” Belichick said in the statement, which was shared by UNC and obtained by ESPN's Pete Thamel on Wednesday (April 30). “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 the 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 were 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 edited clips and stills from just a few minutes of the interview to suggest a false narrative — that Jordan was attempting to control the conversation — which is simply not true.”
Hudson went viral in a clip that showed her interrupt Belichick's interview with CBS News correspondent Tony Dokoupil and said "We're not talking about this," while sitting at a desk in the background after Dokoupil asked how they met.
"No?" Dokoupil asked.
"No," she responded.
Dokoupil also asked Belichick, 72, how he handles interest in their relationship, to which the six-time Super Bowl champion head coach and two-time Super Bowl winning assistant responded, "Never been to worried about what anybody else thinks...just tried to do what I feel like is best for me and what's right."
Earlier this month, public emails revealed Belchick had fears of being viewed as a "predator," while Hudson worried the hiring of his son, Steve, as his defensive coordinator would be seen as nepotism, the Athletic reported. Belichick asked for Hudson to be copied on emails sent to him since his surprising decision to take over as the Tar Heels' head coach.
“Is there anyone monitoring the UNC Football page for slanderous commentary and subsequently deleting it / blocking users that are harassing BB in the comments?” Hudson wrote in a Feb. 13 email obtained by the Athletic.
“I cannot believe that UNC would support my being called a ‘predator,’” Belichick responded in an email the next day.
UNC reportedly didn't find any references to Belichick being called a predator, according to the Athletic's report.
Robbi Pickeral Evans, who serves as UNC's senior associate athletic director for external affairs and strategic communications, did, however, reassure the couple that the school “hid or erased a comment about their personal life and would continue to block, ban or hide similar remarks,” the report states. Evans called the term "incredibly inappropriate, and as you noted below, UNC would NEVER support" it while addressing the "predator concern."
Steve Belichick, 38, had previously worked under his dad in various defensive roles for 12 seasons with the Patriots before spending the past season as the University of Washington's defensive coordinator following his father's firing after 24 seasons.
“Though Steve Belichick is in fact Bill’s son, he should be depicted and represented as his own established, credible entity as opposed to an extension of Bill,” Hudson wrote in a Dec. 22 email regarding the hiring. “It can be easily misinterpreted that Steve is simply benefiting from nepotism but that is not the case. Steve was fortunate to have learned defensive football strategy from the ‘greatest defensive mind’ of all-time. He has earned his position due to his performance and output.”
Hudson added that she wanted the school to avoid using photos of the Belichicks together and avoid referring to him as "Bill's son."
“It is really worth emphasizing the point that Steve has the experience of being a COLLEGE defensive coordinator and will bring a plethora of knowledge to the coaching staff,” Hudson wrote. “I believe being strategic about the depiction of the Steve (sic) will prevent controversy and show upmost (sic) respect towards Steve’s career, validate Bill’s decision as a HC to hire Steve.”
Bill's other son, Brian, was also hired to his UNC staff as a defensive backs and safeties coach after nine seasons with the Patriots, which included 2024 under his father's successor and former linebacker Jerod Mayo, who was fired after one season. Brian, however, wasn't mentioned in the emails by Hudson, whose signature states that she works as the "chief operating officer of Belichick Productions."