In his first sit-down interview since allegations surfaced that he cheated on wife Sandra Bullock, Jesse James tells ABC’s Vicki Mabrey that he still loves the Oscar-wining actress and believed that he would get caught.
“When I was doing it, you know, one, I knew it was horrible, it made me feel horrible,” James told ABC’s “Nightline” in a new clip which surfaced on Monday, of the interview which is set to air on Tuesday. “And two, I knew I would get caught eventually, and I think I wanted to get caught… It was me trying to self-sabotage my life.”
When Mabrey asked why he would hurt his wife, James said, “It’s hard for me to talk about, a little bit, because I still really love her and care about her.”
“I’ve spent my whole life with the kids and with her trying to … protect her from everything,” James continued in the clip. “But, the most hurt she’s ever been caused is by the person that wanted to protect her.”
On Monday’s “Good Morning America,” Mabrey said that James believes that Bullock would not take him back and would divorce him.
On Tuesday, “Good Morning America” released more clips from the interview, where Jesse addressed the photo that shows him wearing a Nazi hat.
“[I’m] 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 is — it, like, it makes me really sad seeing the photo and the way I look,” he said. “I don’t even remember taking the photo. But it was just — I can tell by the look on my face it was a joke. That was funny then, probably for a minute. But then looking at it in the context of now and my life, it’s not funny.”
James also addressed losing Sandra’s adopted son, Louis, from his life, saying, “It made me sad…But I realized why things have to be done in a certain way…. To see her in the role of mother is one of the most wonderful things I’ve ever seen.”
As previously reported on AccessHollywood.com, in a previous clip of the interview released last week, James – who described himself as “most hated man in the world” – said, “I took a pretty amazing life and marriage and threw it away.”
James’ interview came in the wake of Bullock’s People cover story last month, in which she revealed she’d adopted a son, Louis, and was filing for divorce from James.
The former couple wed in 2005.
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