Back in the spring of 2010, biker Jesse James was at the center of one of the biggest celebrity cheating scandals of all time, when he was caught cheating with multiple women while married to Oscar-winning actress Sandra Bullock. More than five years later, the very public affair still marks James’ career. In a new interview for In Depth With Graham Bensinger, the Monster Garage host, 46, opened up about the incident, taking full responsibility.
“The relationship part I was able to put [aside],” he said. “I had to stand up in front of the media and take full account for what I did. And I took it all. I took 100 percent of it right on the chin. Nobody does that. Everybody denies it.”
James — father to three kids from previous relationships — noted that the hardest part of his split from Bullock, which happened shortly after her 2010 Oscar win for her role in The Blind Side, was “losing my son that I adopted.” Click here to see the cutest photos of Sandra and Louis.
Bullock, 51, and James had secretly started the adoption process and brought baby Louis, now 5, home prior to their split. After news of his infidelity came out, the Our Brand Is Crisis actress finalized the adoption alone. Their divorce was finalized in June 2010.
“The painful part was about Louis, who we adopted,” James said. “As bad as stuff was between us, we adopted a kid and things got kind of good for a little while and we had that kid to focus on, and, boom, it was over in 24 hours — gone, done.”
James went to rehab after the news broke, and explained why to host Bensinger, saying, “I’m the guy that ruined my marriage because I banged some stripper. There’s got to be some flaw in my personality that made me think that was okay.”
He also felt that he wouldn’t have been cut out of Louis’ life had Bullock not been a member of the Hollywood elite.
“I got divorced and lost a kid I adopted because of it,” he said. “Whether that’s fair, whether I should have lost a kid due to infidelity, which I don’t think anybody ever does. But I think with ‘Hollywood Law’ that’s totally fair.”
Following his divorce from Bullock, James was engaged to tattoo artist Kat Von D before their split in 2011, which Von D claimed was due to James cheating on her multiple times. He married drag racer Alexis DeJoria in 2013. Before marrying Bullock in 2005, James was married to first wife Karla James until 2002 and stripper Janine Lindemulder until their split in 2004.
Of his current wife, DeJoria, James said, “She’s just like a real woman. I don’t want to say anything to jinx it, but it’s pretty good. She’s the first person I’ve ever been with that just lets me work and thinks it’s awesome.”
Jesse James’ complete interview on In Depth With Graham Bensinger airs this weekend. Check your local listings.
