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Yesterday, People Magazine reported that not only is actor Sandra Bullock divorcing her husband, reality star Jesse James, but she has also adopted an African-American baby boy.
It had been widely reported that James cheated on the recent Oscar winner with at least four women and had entered a rehabilitation facility (exactly what his addiction was is still unknown). Because many people in the public eye have been open about their impending or recent adoptions, the news of a divorce and a new baby is a revelation.
After the reports of infidelity came the allegations -- mostly originating from celebrity sites like Us Weekly and TMZ, though supported by a photograph and testimony from a family member -- that James holds questionable beliefs about race, beliefs that bring up concerns about the upbringing of Bullock's son. Though Bullock now plans to raise the child as a single parent, James was still in the house when Louis Bardo Bullock was adopted in January, and it's safe to say that James had a substantial role in the adoption of the little boy, who was born in New Orleans.
The questions about James' views on race surfaced when one of his alleged mistresses, Michelle McGee came forward. Among other things, McGee is a model and porn actress who has posed for Nazi fetish magazines and is a rumored white supremacist. Despite having "WP" (which often stands for White Power) tattooed on her thighs, she has explained that it really stood for "Wet P$%sy." (If it really meant that, wouldn't it be around her crotch? Just sayin'.)
Rumors swirled that there were sex tapes in which James was dressed up like an SS officer performing sex acts. The existence of sex tapes hasn't been proven, but a picture of James with an SS officer hat, giving the Nazi salute, has definitely surfaced.
Gossip site TMZ posted a video in which James' father Larry, who has been estranged from his son for six years, talks about his son's childhood fascination with Nazis, and his own friendship with a neo-Nazi, who gave the family "Nazi literature." Jesse "started getting really interested in it, so I destroyed all of the information that I had been given and didn't let him pursue it any further," Larry James said:
In the People story (which will hit newsstands on Friday), Bullock distanced herself from her soon-to-be-ex, the photo, and his alleged beliefs:
"The photo shocked me and made me sad," Bullock tells People. "This was stupid, this was ignorant. Racism, anti-Semitism, sexism, homophobia, anything Nazi and a boatload of other things have no place in my life."
While many blogs and websites are commenting on the divorce announcement and that Bullock was able to keep her son out of the public spotlight, a few have looked at the comparisons between art and real life. Bullock won her Oscar for portraying a white mother who takes in a black teenager in The Blind Side.
Lori from My American Meltingpot investigates Bullock’s decision to keep the adoption quiet:
I mean you have to wonder if the story of Leigh-Anne Tuohy, the woman Bullock portrayed in the movie, inspired Sandra in any way to adopt a Black child. People.com reports that she and James began the adoption process four years ago, so maybe this was in the works before Bullock ever heard of Tuohy, but I still have to assume that playing a White woman who gives her heart and opens her home to a Black son made a deep impression. How could it not?
She also raises the question: Is it a blessing in disguise that James is no longer in the picture because of the allegations?
Not that I suspect Sandra Bullock is a secret fan of The Melting Pot, but I do wish her luck on this journey of being a single mother to a child of color. She is going to need it amidst the grief of the dissolution of her marriage. And while I also suspect Sandra Bullock would never come to me for parenting suggestions, I will offer my unsolicited advice and tell her to keep that baby away from her ex. He cheats with women
