Bill Belichick has issued a statement regarding the controversial CBS interview he did with his girlfriend, Jordon Hudson.
The 73-year-old football legend made headlines after his awkward CBS Sunday Morning interview promoting his new book The Art of Winning: Lessons from a Life in Football — but not for the reasons he hoped.
The conversation went viral when Hudson, 24, abruptly shut down a personal question about how the couple met.
Belichick has since issued a pointed statement blasting CBS and defending Hudson, making it crystal clear that the interview’s direction blindsided them both, per PEOPLE.
“I agreed to speak with CBS Sunday Morning to promote my new book, The Art of Winning — Lessons from My Life in Football," Belichick explained in an email statement sent via his employer, the University of North Carolina.
"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."
That boundary, Belichick claimed, was ignored.
“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,” he said.
“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,” he wrote.
“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.”
He continued: “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.”
CBS, however, hit back. In a statement shared with PEOPLE, the network denied that any limitations were agreed upon beforehand: “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.”
During the segment, Dokoupil described Hudson as a “constant presence” throughout the shoot — she was even sporting a matching sweatshirt and sitting quietly by the set.