14 DAY TRIAL // The other day, problems for Jesse James, husband to Oscar-winning actress Sandra Bullock and CEO of West Coast Choppers, just got bigger as a 2-year-old photo of him emerged in the media. The pic showed James in a military hat and doing the Nazi salute for the camera, but that alone is not enough to justify labeling him a neo-Nazi, his attorney says for CNN.
The media outlet got in touch with James’ attorney precisely to speak of the photo that caused such a stir online and what meaning was attached to it, since most people took it as irrefutable proof that he was, in fact, a neo-Nazi. That couldn’t be farther from the truth, Joe Yanny says: actually, the hat was a gift from his godfather, who was Jewish, while the photo was taken in jest.
“A photo recently surfaced of James wearing the German Nazi hat as he raised his right arm in a salute. The hat may have been in poor taste, but it was given to James as a gag gift by his Jewish godfather, attorney Joe Yanny said. Possessing Nazi memorabilia does not make someone a neo-Nazi, he said. As evidence that James is no anti-Semite, Yanny said James lived for nearly a month in an Israeli kibbutz. His lawyer would not disclose what kind of treatment the famous motorcycle designer is seeking,” CNN writes.
“‘I would request that his rights in regards to privacy and his medical matters be respected,’ said Yanny. […] Yanny refused to talk about the condition of the James-Bullock marriage, which came under question when several women went public with claims they were involved with him. ‘I understand people’s desire in newsworthy stories, but I would hope that by now this wasn’t such a newsworthy story such that his basic rights and privacy aren’t continuously invaded in an improper manner,’ Yanny told CNN,” the same media outlet further informs.
Though he wouldn’t say anything in particular about the state of affairs in the James-Bullock marriage, Yanny did state that about 99 percent of everything written in the media about his client was false. At the moment, the biker is in an Arizona rehabilitation facility, seeking help for an undisclosed problem.