Belichick: 'False narrative' that girlfriend was controlling CBS interview, Hudson was 'doing her job'

— North Carolina football coach Bill Belichick defended his girlfriend Jordon Hudson's conduct during a "CBS News Sunday Morning" interview in a lengthy statement Wednesday, saying she was simply doing her job and that the interview veered away from agreed-upon topics.

"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," Belichick said in the statement, which was released by UNC. "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 the segment, the 24-year-old Hudson is seen interrupting the interview when Belichick, 73, was asked how the couple met. In his statement, Belichick said that he had clearly communicated that promotional interviews would focus only on the book, "The Art of Winning: Lessons from My Life in Football."

"Unfortunately, that expectation was not honored during the interview," Belichick said in the statement. "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."

WRAL has reached out to CBS News for comment.

Hudson is mentioned in the book's acknowledgements section, where Belichick calls her his "idea mill" and "creative muse." On Tuesday, Hudson released an email dated April 10 purportedly written by Belichick on Instagram.

Belichick won six Super Bowls as the head coach of the NFL's New England Patriots. He was hired by UNC in December despite having no collegiate coaching experience. The Tar Heels open their season Sept. 1 against TCU.

The personal relationship between Hudson and Belichick has gotten attention since even before he was hired.

She routinely posts photos of herself and Belichick to her massive social media following and has been a near-constant presence at Belichick's side in recent months. Hudson was at the introductory press conference, in a Dunkin' Donuts commercial during the Super Bowl with Belichick, at several UNC basketball games, at various red carpet events with him, in a suite at a Carolina Hurricanes' playoff game and at the Tar Heels' final spring practice, to name a few public appearances.

Belichick asked that she be copied on emails sent to him, and Hudson sent emails to athletic department personnel detailing how the hire of Stephen Belichick, Bill's son, should be handled.

But the pair also have a professional relationship. Hudson calls herself an "entrepreneur" in her Instagram profile. She has more than 92,000 followers.

Hudson is listed as the manager of at least 15 corporations in Massachusetts. Some were created in 2023 and early 2024 and deal with real estate management, hygiene and cosmetic products and event styling.

But since late 2024, most of Hudson's ventures deal directly with Belichick, including Coach Show LLC, Chapel Bill LLC and All BB Team LLC, which handles the production of the "All-Belichick Team."

Belichick hosted 14 episodes of the "Coach with Bill Belichick" podcast during the 2024 football season. Current UNC general manager Michael Lombardi was among the show's co-hosts.

In response to a public records request from WRAL, UNC said it doesn't have a contract with any of the corporations managed by Hudson.

The Athletic reported Wednesday, citing industry sources, that Hudson played an "instrumental role" in stopping the Tar Heels from appearing on NFL Films' "Hard Knocks." She wanted to be heavily involved in the production, according to The Athletic.

The school had a press release and graphics ready to be released announcing their participation in the show, which has never featured a college team.

One of Hudson's companies is called Trouble Cub Productions. Many of Hudson's corporations use TCE in their names, apparently a reference to Trouble Cub Enterprises, which is the parent company for entities owned by TCE Trust. In her Instagram profile, Hudson writes she is "Trouble Cub by Profession."

Among the newer corporations is TCE Rights Management, which handles the management of property, trademarks and copyrights. It was formed on March 28.

Days later, the company began filing for a number of Belichick-related trademarks, including Chapel Bill, Chapel Bill (Bill's Version), and The Belichick Way. At least seven trademarks include (Bill's Version) in the title. Belichick consented to the trademarks, according to the official filings.

The New England Patriots have trademarks on several phrases, including The Belestrator, Do Your Job, and Ignore The Noise. Among the trademarks from TCE Rights Management are: The Belestrator (Bill's Version), Do Your Job (Bill's Version) and Ignore The Noise (Bill's Version).

Music superstar Taylor Swift used the same trademark convention when she re-recorded previous albums to get back the rights during a dispute with Scooter Braun, who owned the rights to the original versions. Hudson used a Swift song on Instagram when she posted an email purportedly written by Belichick about the promotional strategy for his new book.

InkWell Management, a literary agency, also issued a statement.

"The segment that was shown to the public veered into a discussion of Bill’s personal life and away from the subject of his book, resulting in a raft of hostile social media posts about his personal life," the group said in a statement. "Bill has written an authoritative and entertaining book about success that should be judged by its contents, not by the clicks generated by the segment."

The InkWell statement said that the book includes a chapter on how to handle communications as a leader.

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