She’s not an actor who is known to stir up much controversy, but in 2010 Sandra Bullock was in the middle of a scandal thanks to her husband at the time, Jesse James. Five years into his marriage to Bullock, multiple women came forward claiming that they’d had affairs with James. The Oscar winner and Monster Garage host divorced soon after those affairs came to light. Since then, Bullock’s ex has addressed his infidelity, including calling cheating “part of life.”
Read on to find out more about the dramatic end to Bullock and James’ whirlwind romance and to see what they’ve both said about his affairs.
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Bullock and James got married in 2005. It was the first marriage for Bullock and the third for James, who also had three children from those previous relationships.
In a 2006 interview with Vanity Fair, Bullock explained that they met when she took her godson, who was a fan of James and his show, to visit the set of Monster Garage. From there, James began pursuing Bullock via email. She said that she was apprehensive at first but that he won her over.
“I went, ‘Wow.’ I didn’t think he’d like jazz or classical music,” Bullock told the magazine. “So basically through a courtship of letters, which I didn’t even recognize, I learned about a human being. It was not something I wanted, needed, or looked for, but because he was a stronger person than I was, spiritually and on a tolerance level, I was lucky enough that he educated me.”
In 2010, multiple women claimed publicly that they’d had affairs with James during his marriage to Bullock. People reported on four women who had come forward, including one who said that their affair continued until the news of the other affairs came out. Another woman said she wasn’t sure if he was married at the time.
After this, James released an apology. In a statement to People, he called the “vast majority of the allegations … untrue and unfounded,” but continued, “There is only one person to blame for this whole situation, and that is me. It’s because of my poor judgment that I deserve everything bad that is coming my way.” He also said that he hoped one day Bullock and his children would “find it in their hearts to forgive [him].”
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While her family life was being blown up, Bullock was thriving in her professional life. Amid the scandal, she cancelled appearances to promote her movie, The Blind Side, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. Also after the news broke, James entered a treatment facility for “personal issues” for 30 days.
Bullock filed for divorce from James a month after the claims were made public. As reported by People, when she shared that she had filed for divorce, she also revealed that she adopted a son, Louis. Bullock and James had been looking into adopting a child together, but when they split up, Bullock continued on with the adoption process on her own.
In 2011, James addressed his cheating in an ABC News interview. “I knew it was horrible,” he said. “It made me feel horrible … I knew I would get caught eventually, and I think I wanted to get caught. It was me trying to self-sabotage my life.”
By that time, Jesse was already in another relationship, this time with LA Ink star Kat Von D. Asked whether he thought it was hurtful to Bullock to move on so quickly, he said, “I can’t worry about her anymore. I think I’ve spent a good chunk of the last five or six years worrying only about her, and what she thinks, and what I should do … I think it’s time to worry about Jesse and making sure Jesse’s happy.”
“Yeah, I did cheat on my wife, yeah, I stood up and took accountability for it and apologized. And that’s end of story,” James said in a 2017 interview with the Daily Mail. He also said that people still call him out for the affairs on social media. “The easy [put down] is like, oh well you cheated on Sandra Bullock. That’s the world’s easiest comeback.” He added, “In general, both women and men cheat. It’s part of life.”
James claimed that “a lot of good happened” due to his marriage to the actor ending. “[I]t helped me focus on being a dad more, it helped me focus on doing the right thing and being myself, and getting out of LA and getting a better life for my kids,” he explained.
In 2010, a few months after the scandal, Bullock told People, “We have both moved on with our lives and only want the best for each other. Anything else that is said on my behalf is inaccurate.”
More recently, in 2022, the Lost City star talked about going through her divorce while welcoming her son during an interview with CBS Sunday Morning.
“I mean, so much had happened,” she said. “How do you process grief and not hurt your child in the process? It’s a newborn, they take on everything that you’re feeling. So, my obligation was to him and not tainting the first year of his life with my grief.”
Bullock and James both moved onto new relationships. Bullock began dating photographer Bryan Randall in 2015 and have kept their relationship very private. Following his marriage to Bullock, James was married to drag racer Alexis DeJoria from 2013 to 2022. Since 2022, he has been married to his fifth wife, adult film actor Bonnie Rotten. The TV host has continued to make headlines for cheating claims in relationships after Bullock.