Jesse James on 'Nightline': I'm a Liar, Not a Racist

By PopEater Staff Posted May 24th 2010 11:57PM

More sadness-filled nuggets continue to trickle in from ABC's interview with Jesse James, and the latest has the former reality star recalling the moment he told Sandra Bullock about his cheating ways. "I told her basically everything," he said in a snippet aired on 'Good Morning America.' "I had affairs outside of our marriage."

James said Bullock had suspected he was being unfaithful in the past, but "I lied and lied my way out of it. I lied to everyone about everything, even to myself."

But of all the reasons James sat down with ABC's Vicki Mabrey for the interview -- which airs Tuesday on 'Nightline' -- he revealed his main motivation was to dispel charges he's a racist.

"I think out of anything this is why I'm doing this interview the most," he said. "Because dealing with losing my marriage and my son and embarrassing everyone and decimating my life. But to be called a racist on top of that, it makes me really sad seeing the photo and the way I look.

Jesse James Nazi Photo

The photo in question (Us Weekly had it) shows James sporting a Nazi hat and giving a Nazi salute. Compounding the bad press surrounding the shot is James' alleged relationship with stripper Michelle "Bombshell" McGee, who has been photographed wearing similar Nazi gear and reportedly sports a swastika tattoo.

"I don't even remember taking the photo," he claimed. "But I can tell by the look of my face that it was a joke. That was funny then, for like a minute. Looking at it in the context of my life now, it's not funny."

James said he "knew it was horrible" to cheat on Bullock but continued to do so out of desire to derail his life because things were too good.

"It made me feel horrible," James said of the infidelities. "And I knew I would get caught eventually, and I think I wanted to get caught. I don't think, I know for a fact now what it was. It was me trying to self-sabotage my life."

The 'West Coast Chopper' star became visibly upset when discussing the people he has hurt most in the scandal and the irony of the path he took.

"The last person I would ever want to harm is her or the kids," he said. "I spent my whole life with the kids and her, trying to protect her. But the most hurt she's ever been caused is by the person who wanted to protect her."

He continued: "It's really, it's terrible. And she's going to hurt for a long time. It's hard for me to talk about it a little bit, because I still really love and care about her."

Watch: PopEater's Rob Shuter and 'The Insider' Host Lara Spencer on Jesse's Apology

James covers just about all the bases with 'Nightline' -- his cheating, his divorce from Bullock, his stint in rehab and his role in raising Louis, the baby boy Bullock and James recently adopted.

Asked if he's the "most hated man in America," James answers, grinning, "I think it's the 'most hated man in the world,' now."

Since news of his multiple affairs hit the press, James has kept a low profile, and has only been seen dropping his kids off at school. But while he's generally stayed out of the spotlight, the reality star has issued several statements apologizing for his behavior.

When PEOPLE broke the story of Bullock's adoption last month, Jesse released the following statement to the magazine: "My whole life has been full of hard decisions. The decision to let my wife end our marriage, and continue the adoption of Louis on her own, has been the hardest. The love I have for Louis cannot be put to words. Not having him around to love and to hold has left a huge hole in my heart."

The complete interview will air on May 25 at 11:35 PM ET/PT on ABC, and will be previewed on 'Good Morning America' that day.

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Sandra Bullock Snapshots

©BAUER-GRIFFIN.COM Jesse James and his daughter Chandler return from a trip to the Southern United States. Was Jesse there to finalize his divorce, or were Jesse and Chandler visiting Sandra Bullock and her adopted baby Louis Bardo? EXCLUSIVE May 13, 2010 Job: 100513NB2 Los Angeles, California www.bauergriffin.com www.bauergriffinonline.com

CHRIS/bauergriffinonline.com

Sandra Bullock Snapshots

In this publicity image released by ABC, correspondent Vicky Mabrey, left, is shown with Jesse James, husband of actress Sandra Bullock during an interview for "Nightline," on Wednesday May 12, 2010 in Long Beach, Calif. The interview will air on Tuesday, May 25, at 11:35 p.m. EST on ABC. (AP Photo/ABC, Patrick Wymore)

Sandra Bullock Snapshots

Sandra and Jesse Snapshots

Sandra Bullock Snapshots

Tags: jesse james, nightline

Comments

(449)

Monday 24 May

By paula

Lowest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

jesse james is not a terrorist just another imperfect person ,so dont be so hard on him

By llednez

Highest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

Oh puhleeze, Jesse, pull the other one. How do you explain cheating? Grow up.

By kathy

J.J. You do not give up!! you made some very very stupid mistakes an so have all of us,in one way or another,Do whatever it takes to mend your family and get your wife back!the only difference between you and most other men is you got caught,now buckle down and go the straight an narrow,show it live it and just keep telling everyone that you LOVE her and want to fix this mess,the HELL with everyone else.GOOD LUCK

By PatrickPain

What a tool! He spent all his life trying to protect her....He hasnt known her all his life! He is just a punk from the streets!

Tuesday 25 May

By Rebecca W.

That caught my attention too. Meaning it's a false statement, I spent "all" my life trying to protect her. Further meaning not only is he lying to himself, but to the rest of us too, than expecting us to believe it.

By Fleur458

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Protecting her? Given the extraordinary number of women he was banging during their short marriage, when did he have the time?

By DJR

He said he spent his whole life "with her and the kids" trying to protect them. Not his whole life in general.

By William Bischoff

This disgusting slimeball was just so jealous of Sandra that he wanted desperately to hurt her. He was doing nothing to "hurt himself" or his "life", other than get rid of someone who was making him look like the worthless piece of garbage that he is. Sandra Bullock is sooo much better off without this blight to humanity. Her son, also, is much better off being raised by a loving, and caring mother, than to have to be exposed to this selfish and useless excuse for a man. Jesse James would NEVER HAVE BEEN A GOOD ROLE MODEL. I feel so sorry for the rest of his family, and hope they can deal with all the scandal. James should just shut his mouth and slither away like the snake he is, and stop trying to put any type of "spin" on what he did, just to keep his name in the tabloids.

By H.White

AMEN!

By plat250

Your one cold hearted Mo Fo brother!

By gd

GET OVER YOURSELF, JERK

By beenthere

men will be men if they mean to or not...i am sure he has had several door knockers over the years and after awhile the temptation get to strong this is something you have to expect when you marry a good looking famous person....male or female....DUH

By KMC528

At least he admits it was "self sabotage". I've known several people who couldn't believe their luck and set out to self sabotage before fate could do it to them. Relationships ruined, jobs lost, nest eggs blown, by people who have a fear of success. Most of them then deny that they did it to themselves. "Boohoo, poor me, my boyfriend dumped me", without acknowledging that she lied to him, or cheated on him, or stole from him.

By AnnaLora

James tells "Nightline" that he "knew it was horrible " to cheat on Bullock but continued to do so out of desire to derail his life because things were too good.IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO UNDERSTAND!!!HE IS AN DANGEROUS CRAZY!!!

By Heather

I think he derailed his marriage because he didn't want to adopt and be a father to a child that wasn't the same color as himself... sorry to say it, but I think there's some truth in it.

By terri

You wanted to get caught? Why so she would divorce you? If so it worked. Quit saying how much you still love her. You got caught, your getting divorced and you do not hurt one bit.
If anyone not just JJ wants out, get out, do not hurt the person who was and is suppossed to be your other half in this most ungracious insult to your spousse....

By Dick

What a load of CRAP! He's like the thief mentioned Butler in Gone With The Wind by Rhett Butler, who said, "He's not sorry he stole, but he's damned sorry he's going to jail for it." I never saw a more planned, scripted, phony load of crap. This guy is nothing more than biker white trash, and Sandra must have been nuts to marry this creep. It seems love is not only blind, it's deaf and dumb as well. It's hard to feel sorry for someone so stupid.

By Sara

I think Jessie wanted to be caught, he wanted a big change in his life and didn't know how to go about it, so he did things that he would be caught doing, and that would change things in his life. On some level he is not happy being married to Sandra Bullock and wants to escape, different. He's restless and immature.

By Sharon Oldenburg

"Self-sabotage,", oh please . . . That must just be some buzz word he picked up along the way. Jesse James is just a worthless male skank. Sandra Bullock is SO much better off without him.

By Angy

Seriously Jesse; LET HER end "the" marriage and continue the adoption of Louis, for f..ks sake, you ended that marriage with the first indiscretion and she was going to continue HER adoption of Louis in spite of you and your STUPIDITY! Seriously, that was your problem, you thought you had "CONTROL" over her life. You like many men before and after continue to make the same stupid mistake "CONTROLLING" one's wife as if she truly belonged to you! We're not pets, but a person you choose to screw over...no sympathy from me, like her and many others, I say good riddance! Next time, stick with your own kind!

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