LOS ANGELES — Jesse James broke his silence Thursday, one day after a tabloid accused him of having an affair with a tattoo model.
While he stopped short of confirming the infidelity rumors surrounding him, the 40-year-old Monster Garage star issued a public apology to his wife Sandra Bullock and his three children.
"The vast majority of the allegations reported are untrue and unfounded. Beyond that, I will not dignify these private matters with any further public comment," James said in a statement to People magazine. "There is only one person to blame for this whole situation, and that is me. It's because of my poor judgment that I deserve everything bad that is coming my way.
"This has caused my wife and kids pain and embarrassment beyond comprehension and I am extremely saddened to have brought this on them. I am truly very sorry for the grief I have caused them. I hope one day they can find it in their hearts to forgive me."
San Diego-based Michelle "Bombshell" McGee claims she met James online and they met up soon thereafter at his Southern California home.
"I was like, 'Holy s--t. It's really Jesse James,' " she told In Touch Weekly magazine of their initial meeting, which allegedly took place while Bullock was away shooting her Oscar-winning role for The Blind Side. "He wanted to watch movies, but I asked him, 'What's going on with you and Sandra?' He said, 'She doesn't live here. She has a house in Austin. She is filming, and I can't talk about it.' "
McGee claims they had sex "two or three times" that night and continued their steamy affair for several weeks without condoms. She even had a special nickname for James — "Vanilla Gorilla" — because he was so "well-endowed."
"I would never have hooked up with him if I thought he was a married man," she told the mag. "He gave me the impression they were separated."
The affair scandal comes less than two weeks after Bullock picked up her Best Actress Academy Award for The Blind Side, an honor that moved James to tears. On Wednesday, she abruptly canceled a trip to Europe for the London premiere of the film.
Bullock and James married in 2005 at a ranch north of Santa Barbara.
Also see: Sandra Bullock Pictures