As far as I’m concerned, Jesse James is more of a real man than a “Dead Man.”
The star of Spike’s “Jesse James is a Dead Man” is apparently whopping mad that his ex-wife, just-released-from-prison former porn star Janine Lindemulder, went on “Good Morning America” this week and accused Jesse’s wife, Sandra Bullock, of trying to take her 5-year-old daughter, Sunny, away from her.
Jesse, Sandra and Janine are currently locked in what’s becoming an ugly custody battle for the little girl, who has lived with Jesse and Sandra for much of this year while Janine was serving her sentence for tax evasion.
“What would give her the right to take away my daughter?” Janine, 40, asked “GMA.” “You know, this is my daughter. I am the best mother I can be.”
According to a statement given to People by Jesse’s attorney, Jesse, also 40, is annoyed that Janine keeps dragging Sandra’s name into this mess.
“Sandra Bullock is not a party to this litigation,” Jesse’s lawyer, Marilyn Slifman (a woman – clever man), told People. “Mr. James’s (sic) sole concern is for the safety, welfare and best interests of his daughter. The proper forum to resolve this case is in the courtroom.”
But apparently Janine believes Sandra, 45, is the impetus behind this push to get full custody of Sunny.
“…I do believe the reason Sandra is so interested in Sunny… she (thinks she) is saving Sunny from me, from her own mother… That’s what I believe,” she told “GMA.”
Sandra, on the other hand, has written the court saying, “I am aware that Janine has claimed many times that my desire to have (Sunny) was because I could not have children of my own. That couldn’t be farther from the truth.”
Janine, for her part, says, “I didn’t say that.”
Sandra goes on to tell the court, “I know the term ’stepmother’ carries many connotations, one of them being ‘glorified babysitter.’ My commitment and responsibility to [the girl] … goes beyond that.”
“GMA” quotes an anonymous source close to Janine as saying that Janine was “not in favor of the divorce when Jesse left (while she was pregnant with Sunny). Janine had custody of her daughter. Jesse didn’t see his daughter for the first two years of her life except for around the time when she was born. It was only after he got involved with Sandra Bullock that he decided he wanted to have a relationship with his daughter.”
Complicating things even further for Janine is that she recently married a convicted felon and Jesse, rightly so, is concerned about Sunny’s exposure to the man. As a result, the judge in the case amended the visitation order to specify that Janine’s husband must stay away from Sunny.
Whatever the outcome of the case, I hope Sunny winds up in the care of the best possible parents. To read Parade Magazine’s interview with Sandra – in which she mentions Sunny – go here.
