Football coach Bill Belichick criticized how CBS News characterized his interview, which he claims veered away from focusing “solely on the contents of the book” he will soon release.
Belichick, 73, is a legendary coach who headed the New England Patriots team for over 20 years before he started coaching for the North Carolina Tarheels at the collegiate level. He holds the record for Super Bowl wins with eight and has put his career in a book called The Art of Winning: Lessons from My Life in Football, to be released May 6.
An interview with CBS on Sunday centered on Belichick and featured his girlfriend Jordon Hudson, 24. The coach claimed in a statement Wednesday that he “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.”
However, Tony Dokoupil opted to include clips of Hudson interrupting Belichick during the interview and sitting on set. Dokopil claimed Hudson was “a constant presence” while he interviewed Belichick.
“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,” Belichick said. “[Hudson] 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.”
Belichick went further to suggest the outlet “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 News issued its own statement Wednesday denying Belichick’s claims.
“When we agreed to speak with Mr. Belichick, it was for a wide-ranging interview,” a spokesperson for the statement read. “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.”
’60 MINUTES’ BLAMES PARAMOUNT’S IMPENDING MERGER FOR PRODUCER’S RESIGNATION
President Donald Trump is in the middle of a lawsuit against CBS News. Trump’s grievances came after the program hosted then-Vice President Kamala Harris for an interview a month before the election. Trump claimed the edits to Harris’s interview were “the biggest scandal in broadcast history: They actually took her answer out and gave her a different answer after it was shot.” The president is suing the network for $20 million over the dispute.
Trump has continued to criticize 60 Minutes for editing Harris’s interview and featuring episodes on his longtime critics, such as actor George Clooney.
