Television May 26, 2010
Jesse James: 'I Grew Up with a Huge Amount of Shame'
During Tuesday night's "Nightline" interview with Jesse James, the disgraced motorcyclist blamed his cheating ways on being abused by his father.
"I grew up with a huge amount of shame and fear and abandonment on my shoulders from a very young age, and I think, you know, the way my mind rationalized [cheating], 'Well, you know, I might as well do whatever I can to like, run her off, 'cause she is going to find out what I am anyway and leave me anyway," James told reporter Vicki Mabrey.
"The struggle within myself for the things that I did... to damaging my marriage and my life and everything else, it's all me. I'm doing it because, you know, I've basically never felt good enough for anyone."
Raised by his father, the biker said he "beat my ass pretty good a bunch of times ... I just remember, like, clenched teeth, strained-neck look on his face. My whole childhood, I never had a chance to be a kid. ...I was always scared."
Check out James' entire "Nightline" interview.
James says he's sorry for what he did to his soon-to-be ex-wife Sandra Bullock, and hopes that she will one day forgive him. "I really wish I didn't have to go through all this and put everybody else through this to get to this place, but hopefully with time and my actions, and the things that I do, I hope people realize that, you know, Hey, I'm human, I make mistakes and I'm sorry for what I did."
