Sandra Bullock and her husband, Jesse James, of Monster Garage fame, are battling with his ex-wife over custody of his 5-year-old daughter, Sunny Lee James. He was granted custody when Sunny’s mom, former adult film actress Janine Lindemulder, was imprisoned for tax evasion earlier this year. She’s out, and wants visitation.
Sandra and Jesse allege Janine is an unfit parent, and want to keep her away from Sunny. Janine wrote a letter to the judge saying that she hoped to see her daughter every Saturday, and be more
informed of her child’s out-of-state travel and any changes in her
education. “My daughter and I are both very eager to get back to a normal, healthy, loving life,” she wrote.
The
court granted Lindemulder visitation rights on Sundays, according to
court documents, as long as she kept her daughter away from her new
husband — felon Jeremy Aikman — and did not consume any drugs or
alcohol. But they were back in court recently when it was alleged she violated the terms of the visitation.
Sandra wrote her own letter to the judge, alleging that Sunny was mistreated in her mother’s care. “I myself have stopped working like I used to in order to be here with
Jesse and the kids because we are on constant high alert,” she wrote.
“Never knowing the condition Janine will be in, and even more
concerning, the condition Sunny will be in.”
She also blames this situation as the reason she has not had biological children. “To share the joy of bringing another life into the world with Jesse is
something that I desire very much,” she wrote. “But we realized that
due to the instability in Sunny’s life, bringing another child into the
world at [this] time wouldn’t be in Sunny’s best interest.”
Janine took the fight to the court of public opinion, and went on Good Morning America last week to plead her case. “I am the best mother I can be,” she said, although she admitted to making “horrific choices in the past.” said she’s not sure how Bullock formed an opinion of her parenting, since “Sandy doesn’t know what goes on in my house.”
“It
hurts tremendously. The accusations, especially from Sandra … because
we’ve never sat down and talked,” Lindemulder said in the interview.
“That’s the one thing that I wish more than anything, for a remedy for
what’s happening here, is just communication.”
Ironically, since Sandra wrote letters to the judge, Jesse is now asking for his wife to be left out of the discussion. James’s attorney Marilyn Slifman calls Lindemulder’s remarks “inaccurate and unfortunate.” “Sandra Bullock is not a party to this litigation,” Slifman says in a
statement. “Mr. James’s sole concern is for the safety,
welfare and best interests of his daughter. The proper forum to resolve
this case is in the courtroom.”
Wow, what a mess this is. As a parent, I’m not sure I’d like my kid to be publicly blamed for the reason someone hasn’t had their “joy of bringing another life into the world.” Then again, it does sound from these statements that Sandra and Jesse are really looking out for Sunny’s best interest, as opposed to say, the Gosselins, so there is that.
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