Bill Belichick was reportedly promised by his publisher that the now-infamous April interview with CBS would only be about his book and not veer into outside topics.
Belichick was asked questions not directly about the novel, most notably about 49-years-younger girlfriend Jordon Hudson, who was on set, seated off camera.
The questions to Belichick about Hudson sparked the 24-year-old to interrupt and prompt weeks of questions as to her influence on the North Carolina head football coach.
More than a dozen days before the interview aired on April 27, Belichick was reportedly written by Simon & Schuster’s senior director of publicity, David Kass, stating ‘I can assure you that the conversation [will be] about the book’ and was ‘furious’ at what occurred, per TMZ.
‘This is a book segment, that looks at your life in football and what people can learn from you to achieve success in their own lives,’ Kass added.
Kass has not immediately replied to DailyMail.com’s request for comment. However, A CBS News spokesperson did give a statement, not changing their stance about the interview.
Bill Belichick was reportedly promised that his CBS interview would be about his book
His publisher made the claim, without attending the interview and Jordon Hudson taking over
Hudson reportedly interrupted the interview when questions not about the book were asked
‘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,’ the CBS News spokesperson told DailyMail.com.
Kass was reportedly insistent on Belichick doing the interview, even flying to Chapel Hill in March to make sure the Tar Heels leader and he were on the same page about doing press for his book.
It was Kass not attending the interview’s taping, which was filmed in Annapolis, Maryland, that led Hudson to feel empowered to direct what Tony Dokoupil was asking.
Belichick and Hudson have stayed firm that CBS did not honor their part of the deal for the interview in direct contradiction with the network’s message.
‘I agreed to speak with CBS Sunday Morning to promote my new book,’ 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.
Friends are said to be concerned by the influence that Hudson appears to have over Belichick
The Tar Heels’ leader defended his 49-years-younger girlfriend from the interview fallout
Simon & Schuster senior director David Kass (pictured) wrote to Belichick before the interview
‘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.’
In what appears to be a show of support from UNC to Belichick’s tenure, his statement was released by the school in order to try and calm the outpouring of shock at Sunday’s scenes.
Daily Mail exclusively reported last month that Belichick and Hudson are unfazed, overall, by the response to the interview. Belichick thinks some of the critics from his all-conquering run as Patriots coach now want to see him fail in Chapel Hill.
After the interview aired, Pro Football Talk claimed that Hudson interrupted proceedings on so many occasions, CBS decided to include one moment to reflect her overriding influence.
TMZ then claimed that Hudson stormed out of the interview for 30 minutes at one stage as she was so unhappy with the direction it was going.
Belichick’s statement doesn’t address those allegations but it is perhaps notable that he described the overall discussion as a ‘productive 35-minute conversation’.
The New York Times reported that Hudson’s presence was ‘instrumental’ in a deal breaking down for the iconic ‘Hard Knocks’ series to film their behind-the-scenes show with Belichick at UNC.
