Jesse James Opens Up About His Divorce From Sandra Bullock: "The Painful Part Was About Louis"

Ex-husband of Our Brand Is Crisis star discusses separation

More than five years later, Jesse James is revealing intimate feelings about the divorce that rocked the country and tore his life apart.  

During an interview with In Depth With Graham Bensinger, the 46-year-old motorcycle entrepreneur took full responsibility for the events that unfolded between him and his ex-wife Sandra Bullock at the start of 2010. 

"The relationship part I was able to put [aside]," James 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." 

What was it that he did all those years ago? Right on the ecstatic heels of Bullock's 2010 Academy Award win for her portrayal of Leigh Anne Tuohy in The Blind Side, rumors surfaced that her husband of five years had been having affairs with multiple women over the course of their marriage. James acknowledged the accusations with a public apology to his wife and children just days after the initial reveal.

"There is only one person to blame for this whole situation, and that is me," he said in a statement years ago, later checking into a rehab facility.

After Bullock had stood on the Golden Globe stage that same year to credit James with improving her work and having her back, she had seemingly had enough and filed for divorce in April.

The public did not know at the time that Bullock and James were in the midst of adopting a son that had been born two months earlier in New Orleans. Bullock proceeded with the adoption of the boy, Louis, without any further participation from James. 

"I got divorced and lost a kid I adopted because of it," he said during the interview. "Whether that's fair, whether I should have lost a kid due to infidelity, which I don't think anybody ever does."

That loss still haunts James, who is also a father to two daughters and a son from previous marriages.

"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."

Both James and Bullock created very separate new lives for themselves since revelations of his infidelity first surfaced. James was engaged to on and off-again girlfriend, tattoo artist Kat Von D. The pair had broken off their engagement twice, Von D later accusing James of cheating. He recently married professional drag racer Alexis DeJoria—a marriage he admits may be the perfect fit.

"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."