NBA legend Charles Barkley inserting himself into the ongoing saga of Bill Belichick’s alarming CBS interview has fans blasting him amid his concerns about the football coach’s relationship with 49-year-younger Jordon Hudson.
Barkley appeared on ‘The Dan Patrick Show’ on Wednesday and was directly asked about his friend of 30 years and his 24-year-old girlfriend, days after criticism reached a fever pitch about their relationship.
Since Sunday’s airing of the awkward interview, a string of alarming revelations have come out about Hudson. It has been claimed that she stormed out the interview, causing a 30-minute delay and that her demands have also stopped the legendary ‘Hard Knocks’ series from filming Belichick’s foray into the college game North Carolina.
‘This is a very slippery subject for me because Bill is one of my really good friends,’ Barkley started. ‘… But I will admit I am a little concerned with some of the stuff that is going on and I might actually reach out to him and make sure everything is good. I am concerned with what I am hearing. It is not a good look right now, I will admit that.’
Barkley is best known these days for his work as an NBA analyst alongside Shaquille O’Neal on TNT but as a player in the 80s and 90s, he was an All-Star 11 times.
Barkley’s comments outside the basketball world, especially breaking his self-proclaimed rule of not talking about other people’s relationships, have led to the harsh criticism now being inflicted on him.
Barkley inserting himself into the saga of Belichick’s alarming interview has drawn criticism
The blowback to Belichick and Hudson from the weekend interview is still ongoing days later
Barkley made a talk-show appearance where he was asked about his friend of 30 years
‘Yes that’s what “great friends” do,’ one social-media user said. ‘Go on air first and say that they might actually reach out to them.’
‘So it’s not a rule you have. Barkley will do anything for attention because the media has made him untouchable,’ a second person stated.
‘What a clown. Bill Belichick can do whatever he wants and would and should ignore this self-important joke,’ a third on X added.
‘He seems to break his rules all the time,’ a fourth concluded.
His comments come as the fear for Belichick appears to be growing within his own family, too.
On an Instagram post which shows former New England Patriots star Julian Edelman sticking up for his old coach’s girlfriend by claiming she was merely acting how any PR person would, American comedian Nikki Glaser also defended Hudson in the comments.
‘100% this,’ Glaser wrote. ‘She’s acting as his publicist. Publicists do this during interviews. People are out for blood
But his daughter-in-law Amanda, who has been married to Belichick’s son Stephen for eight years, shot that down. She wrote back: ‘Publicists act in a professional manner and don’t “storm” off set delaying an interview.’
A collection of social-media messages about Barkley’s comments on Belichick’s relationship
Three days after the interview aired, and more than four months into his tenure in Chapel Hill, Belichick issued a blistering statement, hitting at CBS.
‘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.’
In the background, Belichick’s friends are said to be increasingly concerned at the control Hudson has over the eight-time Super Bowl winner, while North Carolina are said to be questioning if he is still the right man to be their football coach.
CBS responded to Belichick’s claims on Wednesday, rebuking some of what the gridiron legend claimed.
‘When we agreed to speak with Mr. Belichick, it was for a wife-raging interview,’ a spokesperson for CBS News stated. ‘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.’
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 earlier this week 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.
