Jesse James Opens Up About Divorce With Sandra Bullock, “Losing My Son”

In an interview with In Depth With Graham Bensinger, Jesse James opened up about his infidelity and divorce from Sandra Bullock.

In March 2010 (shortly after Bullock won her best actress Oscar for The Blind Side), which James referred to as the time he “learned what it was like to lose everything,” he was in the spotlight after allegations of cheating surfaced, which he later admitted to. Bullock filed for divorce in April 2010.

“I made mistakes and did stuff that I shouldn’t have. I handled the situation not the way that I should have,” James said in the interview. “I got divorced and lost a kid I adopted because of it,” he added in reference to his infidelity. “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.”

When asked what the most difficult part of the divorce process was, James said “losing my son that I adopted, for sure. … Not being able to see him and see him grow up.”

James said that he was transparent with his older children during his time in the media frenzy and “didn’t try to pull any punches.” He admitted that “the painful part was about Louis, who we adopted. That was the tough part for everyone.”

Before moving out of California, the former reality star said that paparazzi camped outside of his house for six months, and he, at times, “beat the shit out of a bunch of them,” but said “the media stuff is just business.”

While James admitted he “should have just left” and questioned, “How can I make myself a better person and be expect to be a husband and make the right decisions when I’m constantly surrounded by that negative influence?,” he said having Louis helped relations between him and Bullock before the cheating scandal surfaced.

“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 said.

He admitted that “I messed up really bad on a global scale and everybody knows it. I had to stand up in front of the media and take full account for what I did. I took it all.”

James continued, “I told the truth and held myself accountable for what I did wrong and took 100 percent of it right on the chin.”