As if the cheating allegations by at least four different women weren’t bad enough, Jesse James’ reputation has also been under fire as a possible Nazi sympathizer. The first piece of evidence questioning James’ beliefs was mistress #1, Michelle McGee (whom I refuse to refer to as “Bombshell,” because, well….just look at her!), a white supremist who has “WP” tattooed on her body and participated in a Nazi-inspired photo shoot. The second was a report that James collects Nazi memoriabilia. The third was a recently released photo of James sporting a Nazi cap and doing the Nazi “heil Hitler” salute. Now, James’ legal team is addressing these rumors directly, saying that their beleaguered client is a history buff who collects Nazi artifacts but is no anti-semite.
Jesse James’ Nazi hat was a gift from a Jewish mentor and does not make him a neo-Nazi, his lawyer said Wednesday.
James is at a treatment facility “to deal with personal issues” in a bid to save his marriage to actress Sandra Bullock, a spokeswoman for James said.
“He realized that this time was crucial to help himself, help his family and help save his marriage,” she said.
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.
“I would request that his rights in regards to privacy and his medical matters be respected,” said Yanny.
James has been the target of controversy and publicity since his separation with Bullock soon after she won a best actress Oscar earlier this month.
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.
He said “99 percent” of what has published about James in recent weeks is untrue.
Okay, I can believe that James is a history buff. I can even believe he lived in a Kibbutz. But that photo? I don’t know. I’m not Jewish, so maybe I am out of my depth here, but perhaps some of our Jewish posters can lend some commentary here: since when is the Holocaust fair game for “gag gifts?” Is this subject really something that Jewish people joke about at this level – giving someone a Nazi hat and encouraging them to pose in a Hitler-esque pose?
I also find it interesting that the lawyer refers to James’ “medical issues.” I guess “serial cheater” is now a medical issue? We have Tiger Woods to thank for that one. What would that medical issue be named, exactly – “Can’tKeepitinMyPants-itis?” Yeah, I’m not buying it. Nice try on the damage control, but maybe James should have thought about all of the damage his marriage, career and reputation would sustain before he started trolling the Internet for skanks. And there’s no medical condition on earth that can justify sleeping around with no protection. That’s just classic douchebag, and there ain’t no cure for that! As for the “99 percent of claims are untrue,” this echoes James’ original apology from two weeks ago – but notice that there’s not any clarification beyond that. I think we know what 1% is true, based on his wife’s reaction: Jesse James is a cheater.
Header image from US Weekly via Gawker
All I can say is that I’m part Ukrainian Jewish. My relatives escaped “the Old Country” as they called it, just before the second world war and believed they would have all been dead if they hadn’t.
Nazi memorabilia for them is a painful reminder of the oppressors who were responsible for the deaths of their people. Any memorabilia my relatives kept were pictures and items of the loved ones who died, not of the regime responsible.
bitch, please.
I’m Jewish.
To answer you’re question – Um, I would NEVER give a gag gift that mocked Judaism to a non-Jewish person, let alone a gift that mocked the Holocaust.
I really don’t know what sort of “Holocaust-mocking” gag gift I would even give to a Jewish friend – – It would have to be a REALLY good friend and a REALLY funny… oy. No. I can’t think of any scenario where I would even do that.
And also, my friend’s dad actually has some Nazi memorabilia. It’s true, owning one of those hats doesn’t make you a Nazi, it makes you a history buff. BUT PUTTING IT ON AND DOING A HEIL HITLER? Uh, yeah. That WOULD make you a Nazi.
I wish his “fans” and customers would cancel their orders and boycott his businesses. This crap shouldn’t be tolerated, “gag” or not.
He sounds like such a jerk-trying to minimize his actions. Man up JJ, take your lumps, own it, and let Sandy move on.
Psht!…Spriritual advisor in 3…2…
And his no-name “Jewish mentor” should be just as bothered, no, DISGUSTED with this picture as Bullock.
Can’tKeepitinMyPants-itis LMAO
Disgusting scum. The only medical condition this douche has is having a shriveled up testicle for a brain.
I’m a history buff as well. I’ve studied and researched the holocaust and slavery. I’ve visited museums that focus on those events. It doesn’t mean I’m a Nazi sympathizer, nor does it mean I want to become an oversee-er. But the difference between people like me and people like JJ and Prince Harry, is that I would never want to wear something like that as a “joke” because of the history associated with that. Just as I wouldn’t use the “n” word in a joking way either.
It’s good to know about everyone’s history and RESPECT it, not mock it.
I second that!
If it comes out that JJ is unquivocally a white supremacist, then his handlers will make sure that he pulls an “Isaiah Washington” to salvage the wreckage. Next, we will read that he’s seeking “medical” treatment for bigotry.
You don’t joke or fool around with this kind of painfull reminder of what happened to friends or family.
I would simply shut up or at least try to say im sorry.
I have a “jewish godfather” is a pathetic excuse.
I hope Sandra has her feet on the ground and realizes that sometimes love is not enough.
Im trying to convince myself that she knew nothing about this and regardless of her german family wish she is not nazi related.
I’m not Jewish, but I can’t imagine being so disrespectful, even casually, of an entire culture that (who?) endured so much at the hands of that monster Hitler and the other monsters who conspired with him.
I don’t think the traditional ‘Heil Hitler’ involved making a fake finger moustache – ‘A bridge to far’ / ‘Triumph of the Will’ etc would have been a lot funnier if it did though…
And I’m trying to convince myself that I need not foam at the mouth whenever I read stuff like ‘regardless of her german family wish she is not nazi related’…
It’s getting harder each time though.
sad
The only scenario where this would be acceptable is if he was making fun of hitler…. Don’t know if that is the case, but maybe he was making fun/satire of Hitler a la “Inglorious Basterds”, where the actor playing Hitler also wears the uniform, but is a ridiculous, self-conscious, egotistical weirdo, weird-accent, having a giant mural painting being made of himself as he questions his soldiers…. thereby taking the power back. My point is maybe he was making fun of the uniform, nazism, and Hitler??? Unless it’s true that he has a Hitler surfboard, but we haven’t seen the photos. Because a Hitler surfboard isn’t memorabilia and it isn’t a satire.
@ No Sensei: thanks for pointing that out. I had the same sense that he really was acting inappropriately and in a bad sense of humor while in his living room with a person he knew, as opposed to actually making fun of a horrible tragedy.
@ ang: Looks like we are of the same mindset!
So before I make my comment, I am going to state loud and clear that I am not making light of this issue, but posing a different point of view about how things can be taken out of context. NOT EVERYTHING, but I’m addressing this one photo.
The reference that comes to my mind was from a Mel Brooks movie, To Be Or Not To Be, when Brooks played an actor who dressed up and made fun of Hitler and did a pose not unlike the one JJ has in the above photo. The actors would “heil” him, and he’d respond, “Heil myself” and be as corny as possible. And in addition to that, The Producers did a similar thing with the Nazi musical, just for shock value, even in Berlin, Germany.
The link is to an article with a photo of MB doing something like this and explaining his own perspective of the satire:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2004/sep/27/theatre.usa
If you look at the full version of the top photo, you will also notice that in the background there is what looks like to be a red airplane. On it there is a swastika…. My question is this… where was the photo taken? Is it his home or someone else.
Not Jewish here, and I do not find anything funny about this. You can not know history and what happened and be able to find an ounce of humor in anything Hitler did. The man was pure EVIL.
So I suppose Mel Brooks or anyone who participated in any incarnations of the Producers is a closet racist?
Or is this like the “n” word, in that only Jewish people can poke fun at nazi’s and if anyone else does it they are a racist?
As if Jews were the only ones killed. Not to belittle their struggle, but the Egyptians killed and enslaved jews for hundreds and hundreds of years.
You know what this means? Clearly the Bengals and anyone who likes the song “Walk like an Egyptian” is a closet jew hater.
@ krissy_kitty: I’m not jewish either but I have family and close friends who are. The humor wasn’t in what AH did, but how seriously he took himself. MB, who was himself a german jew with parents who fled Danzig when the nazis rolled in, made him into a clown to deliberately satirize the character and take away his power.
Such great comments in this thread. I am totally with Wow.
Anybody remember that scene in Road Trip with Michelle Tractenberg where the little german boy is doing a Hitler impersonation? He made the heil salut and did the march and even drew on a moustache. Looking at this photo it seems like the same kind of ‘making fun of Nazis/Hitler’ deal to me. So yeah, he may be a cheating asshole but this pic doesn’t convice me that he’s a Nazi sympathizer.
Hey, my family has a box of sambo dolls from the 1960s…but it’s okay, because they were given to us by a family friend who’s half-black, half-Latino, half-Muslim, half-Asian, one quarter Buddhist, half Jewish, two-thirds man, seven-eighths blind, one-fifth anorexic, a quarter schizophrenic, and one sixteenth Klingon.
Just so that everyone knows that my family isn’t racist.
My grandparents lost most of their family in the Holocaust. My grandmother barely made it out of Austria at all. On my mother’s side, I can trace my family all the way back to the 1600s and beyond. On my father’s side… nothing. A black hole. Like they were never there. So no, I don’t think it’s funny.
And for the record, it’s not just about being Jewish or being sensitive or “it’s a jewish thing”. I just can’t buy that is a joke, that he’s not an anti-semite, not for a second. We’re supposed to believe he’s NOT a neo-nazi but he just happened to have Hitler memorabilia AND be having an affair with a woman who ALSO seems to be an anti-semitic white supremacist? Jesse, you’re making Tiger Woods look good.
“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.”
NEVER. NO WAY. This is not a “gag” of any sort.
@ Kayla: I visited Dachau with my mother when I was a little girl and saw how totally creepy it was, a feeling I will never forget. So I hope that you will accept my acknowledgement of your tragic family history and why you have every right to take something that one person thinks is funny and disagree for very real reasons.
And on a side note, I very much enjoy these discussions that involve people from many locations and perspectives. This is such a great site! 🙂
My brother did some research on the internet about Jesse & could not find anything linking him to any racist group, nor could he find any racist quotes by Jesse. He even checked a few Jewish groups that monitor racism & found nothing concerning Jesse.
Right now, the photo just shows a moment of poor judgment on his part. He probably should come out of rehab long enough to make a statement in his own words rather than let PR do it.
@Some Guy — yes, people who think JJ is acting inappropriate are the drama queens, and YOU’RE the calm one. Sheesh.
It is the equivalent of Black Face.
Don’t make fun of another culture’s tragedy. It is incredibly disrespectful and absolutely disgusting.
@ Lukie: So what was your opinion of Whoopi Goldberg HELPING her boyfriend Ted Danson put on blackface for her own roast? She actually defended it as a response to the people who had written them hate mail for being an interracial couple.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_n26_v84/ai_14488564/
He is a Nazi sympathizer. People that collect nazi memorabilia are holding on to what happened trying to keep alive the dream. I am tired and sick of people pretending to be what they are not. Because your lawyer is jewish does not make less of an anti-semite. Your true feelings show in your passions and collecting Nazi memorabilia is one of his passions. And Sandra was aware of this so, she is not such a white dove. You are who you associate with. She tolerated or shared the same feelings of prejudism with him. Not because she makes cute movies, doesn’t take away who she is behind doors. She was married to him for five years. What!! He also sympathized behind her back.
@Ursaline – I think the Mel Brooks point is spot on. I believe Chaplin might have also covered the same sort of ground.
And from what we know about Mr Bullock, he’s about as far away from those guys as you can get…
His lawyer should be sanctioned by the Bar for perpetuating such utterly obvious lies.
“History buff” my gentile ass.. what a crock. the only people I ever see on the History Channel with Nazi memorabilia are neo-nazis.
this is just one more strong piece of circumstantial evidence, in an evidentiary pool lousy with ultra strong pieces of evidence that the guy has nazi ties, sympathies or even a white hood in the closet.
I say this even thinking back to good ol’ prince Harry- EVERYONE knows if you are Caucasian, AND blond/blue eyed you don’t do a couple things, a couple things can NEVER BE A JOKE:
1. You don’t use the “N” word- not even if Dave Chapelle says its ok;and
2. you don’t pose for photos in nazi attire or seek relationships with known nazi whorse, or have a surfboard with Hitler on it.
UNLESS you want to make a statement about your racist and/or nazi beliefs.
case closed.
@ No Sensei: Touche! The Vanilla Gorilla is definitely not Mel Brooks or Charlie Chaplin. They have grace.
There is no question this was stupid. However, I certainly hope that there are no pictures of anyone on this board doing anything ethnically inapporpriate or insensitive that one of your “friends” would sell to the media when you are in the midst of a scandal. With “friends” like that who the hell needs enemies. A thing to remember when you are out doing something stupid and there is a camera weilding “friend” nearby.
I’ve been compelled to learn about the Holocaust since reading Anne Frank in 6th grade. I’m not Jewish by any means but I think it’s not hard to relate to the horrors people inflict upon each other. While it’s happened throughout history, what makes this different is that there are still people alive that survived one of the most inhumane genocides in recent history. It happened during a time when photography and video became available. It’s one of the most well documented hate crimes.
I believe this excuse makes him look even worse. He had a Jewish mentor? He looks pretty dumb but I hope even the most basic education has afforded him the knowledge that Nazis were EVIL. Period. Saying you know someone who is Jewish doesn’t suddenly make everything you do ok.
I have no desire to ever own or even be near any Nazi memorabilia. Even on the aspect of the history buff, I’ve ever only been interested in Jewish memorabilia from that time. He’s just a disgusting pig.
This is quite old news but I remember quite a while back even Celebitchy did an article about these major Asian stars. I don’t follow the Asian star industry but from my understanding, if one is famous in Taiwan, they are known in Hong Kong, Singapore, and China. Anyways there was that one Asian Superstar guy who went to get his computer fixed and the tech found hundreds of lewd pictures of his conquests and himself copulating and whatnot. Many of the pictures were posted on a internet site and a lot of the women were also major players in the Asian industry were exposed in these pictures. The Superstar guy had to move out of the country for fear of being killed. (It is rumored that the people who control the media industry in Asia have ties to mobs.)His career was over pronto. No if’s and but’s. A lot of the women who were engaged were not anymore. If that guy had gone to a sex clinic, he would have been laughed out of the country. Asians call it as they see it. Of course this seems extreme since many lost their careers and their reputation overnight in this scandal but isn’t there a middle ground? Where the whores in the US DON’T get rewarded for spreading their legs? (Ahem Vanity Fair) Where these mistresses are ashamed of their actions rather than proud? I know it’s way off topic but still it’d be nice to see Jesse James career over. Pronto. No excuses. And to not see his parade of whores get richer from this scandal.
And no, even if it was for satire purposes, having someone take a photo of yourself in such a pose, is stupid! The photo takes it out of whatever context it was meant to be, and it becomes a 2d photo with a nazi salute. Just being a devil’s advocate – there may be a story (albeit a stupid one) to this photo.
Inglorious Basterds was funny – an actor is wearing a nazi uniform in it, impersonating Hitler and making him look ridiculous. Because of the context, the man wearing the uniform is not racist.
A thing on it’s own can’t be racist – must have a context. The same way, NOT using the N word or NOT having a swatzika tattoo doesn’t mean you aren’t racist. Certains things/behaviours are subtle and hidden until the truth comes out in the context… or multiple experiences with a racist person(s). And believe me, I know racists who think they aren’t, but the truth always comes out when certain opinions/reactions/behaviours are repeatedly expressed.
Sol – someone having german background has NOTHING to do with any of this. that is an extremely ignorant comment.
Ursaline – “I had the same sense that he really was acting inappropriately and in a bad sense of humor while in his living room with a person he knew, as opposed to actually making fun of a horrible tragedy.” – there is no difference. and JJ is not Mel Brooks or involved with The Producers – those comparisons don’t work here.
Lukie – slavery and the holocaust are not “another culture’s” tragedy.
i cant believe how many people are attempting to give this guy an “oh lighten up , it was a joke” pass.
Somewhere Sandra Bullock is sipping a strong alcoholic drink and saying “What the f@#k did I see in this loser and how do I get myself out of this mess?”
I wouldn’t say lighten up about it – it’s stupid, but doesn’t mean he’s a raging racist. It could, but not until we know everything about this photo. If other evidence comes out about his involvement in neo-nazism, then yes, the context of this photo would become more clear. Does banging a racist stripper make it more clear?? I dunno… maybe, but not a valid proof. If he was married to a racist, then I would be more convinced. As is, the photo could be a display of racism, but maybe a stupid attempt at humour at Hitler’s expense.
I think everyone on board is in agreement that it is a stupid photo and that neo-nazism and nazi fetishism is unnaceptable. Making fun (not light) of nazism (not the holocaust) is more acceptable. No he isn’t Mel Brook or Quentin Tarantino, and yes he is an ass, but is he a racist?
Some Guy – hey, wow, great, informed points. let’s review them, shall we?
So I suppose Mel Brooks or anyone who participated in any incarnations of the Producers is a closet racist? yes, clearly Mel Brooks, an established satirist and veteran of the Battle of the Bulge, is closeted anti-semite.
Or is this like the “n” word, in that only Jewish people can poke fun at nazi’s and if anyone else does it they are a racist? Yes, actually, believe it or not, there is legitimacy in allowing those victimized most by a global tragedy play an arbiter role in determining when these painful symbols can be used and is often done with the aim of stripping the symbol of its harmful power, rather than for “poking fun”.
As if Jews were the only ones killed. Not to belittle their struggle, but the Egyptians killed and enslaved jews for hundreds and hundreds of years. So your point is that jews were killed for centuries by egyptians and for years by nazis, but they weren’t the only ones killed? and you’re not belitting these killings? your point makes no sense. what the hell does Egyptian antiquity have to do with anything here?
You know what this means? Clearly the Bengals and anyone who likes the song “Walk like an Egyptian” is a closet jew hater. yeah, again, your logic is right on the money here. obviously, susanna hoffs is a neo-nazi and that song is a secret anthem – i bet if you play it backwards you can hear hitler reading mein kampf aloud.
oh, p.s. the group was called The Bangles, a reference to jewelry and/or bangs, not The Bengals, football team and type of large cat.
I have a jewish friend who would totally do something like this (or at least make jokes in poor taste). This really does look like a job though… I mean he’s got his other hand over his mouth as if to feign shock… he’s clearly effing around… I dunno, he’s not my friend so I don’t really care but quite honestly, I roll with a crowd that would probably do something like this as a joke…
joke not job…
Here is the link to the pic with the plane that has the swastika on it.. whose house was he at when this pic was taken? hmmmm?
http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2010/03/photo-surfaces-jesse-james-giving-nazi-salute
Hmm. Ok, I’ll comment first on the photo above if i may?
On the photo above, to be honest, to me it looks like a mocking photo. That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have white-suprematist views or even agree with the tenets of the National Socialist Party (which, incidentally is what makes you a Nazi, not having memorabilia). But in this particular case, I would be more convinced if this was a more serious salute rather than this joking around one. It doesn’t mean he’s not a rascist scumbag of the highest order though.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not funny to anyone other than a moron and his friends, but it’s not conclusive proof of white-suprematism, pro-Nazism or anti-semitism/Roma Gypsy/homosexual/Slavic etc who the Nazi’s despised.
And I have to disagree with the person who said that if you study or collect Nazi memorabilia that you automatically agree with them. The Nazi and Fascist movement as a whole is a very interesting phenomenon, and their propoganda through design is a key part of understanding the phenomenon, especially in the Nazi case, so I can understand owning items of historical significance.
A friend of mine managed to get one of the genuine Russian parachute troops jackets to come out after the Cold War. Does it make him a Communist – hardly, I was the socialist in that household, but it was a fascinating period of history and he wanted to have a tangible piece of it before it was gone forever and lost to memory.
I went through a serious T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia) phase for a while. Does it mean that I agree whole-heartedly with his stance on everything and how he “sold” nationalism to the Arabs? No it does not, but I do find him a fascinating character, would dearly love to have some of his personal effects.
@ fizXgirl314 – it’s not as if he’s “in shock”. The guy is making a Hitler moustache with his fingers already. As in he is spoofing Hitler, which is the topic at the moment. Stay with us.
And it’s time you learned that this stuff is not funny, so don’t ever do it – and tell all your genius friends as well.
Ok, sorry, but if Jesse James is an avid collector of Nazi memorabilia, and more importantly a card carrying white supremacist, there is no way in hell America’s Sweetheart DIDN’T know this yet remained vocally head over heels in love with the guy until she found out he was screwing around on her.
I am happy that this jerk who has been influencing local fashion/culture for THE WORST, (I live 2 miles from his shop) has been discredited and revealed for the true uneducated bonehead that he is.
I spent the larger part of my childhood living in Germany and still travel there to visit family friends. Most Germans are ashamed of this part of their history so Sandra having German heritage has nothing to do with this issue.
I cannot imagine willingly having sex with someone who has racist tattoos. Once I saw them I would not only be turned off I would want them out of my sight and out of my life. I would be disgusted and want absolutely nothing to do with such a lowlife.
He, instead, decides to keep sleeping with her.
It is everything put together that makes him look like a complete and total racist.
If it were only this stupid picture I would be willing to accept that this was a momentary lapse of some sort but it isn’t is it? I bet there is more damning evidence on its way.
I am not willing to call SB a racist. It is a serious charge and so far there is nothing to substantiate the accusation.
Many of my family members were murdered by Nazis and their sympathizers. My grandfather owns a Nazi’s canteen, taken off a dead German. You can be pretty sure he does not like and support those that invaded his country and murdered his family and left him an orphan. Owning something from that era does not make one a sympathizer! That’s ridiculous.
I’ve said it before, the pic looks like a total goof on Hitler. It doesn’t look like someone in earnest, but like someone making fun. That said, I’m pretty sure this guy knows and is friends/acquainted with white supremacists. He’s a biker, and a lot of them hold those views.
Come on!! The guy’s a douche but that pic is plainly meant to be a joke. *Rolls eyes*
Oh the hysteria!
OK…have any of you guys seen Larry David in CYE? He referred to his wife as “Hitler,” had an orchestra play Wagner in an enemy’s front yard, and was referred to as a “self-loathing Jew…” to which he replied “yes, I loathe myself but it has nothing to do with being Jewish.” The point is that for the most part, Jews can take a joke, they’ve got brains, balls and major chutzpah, and with this comes the confidence to see the humor in almost any situation. They’re not going to, for example, go slit the throat of a animation artist because he mocked their poor, defenseless Allah with a cartoon, they are too cool for that. This does not mean that the Holocaust should ever be mocked, for that would be ridiculously ludicrous, akin to the Iranian president saying “it’s a myth.” However, making fun of Nazis and Hitler is one way of saying that these disgusting monster creeps have been overcome and the fear is gone, but not the memory. I will agree however, that it’s kind of like blacks using the “N” word, they can use it, but I cannot, nor would I want to. Same with humor of this type, the Jews can joke about it if they so choose, but for Pete’s Sake, not JJ, he just doesn’t have the chutzpah to pull it off.
“I will agree however, that it’s kind of like blacks using the “N” word, they can use it, but I cannot, nor would I want to. ”
It’s not your place to say how they could and should use it. Leave that discussion to black people. I’m not black either, so no, I CAN’T have an opinion about it. We don’t get to and we shouldn’t get to.
i’m jewish and if someone gave me a nazi hat, idc how much it’d sell for, i’d fucking burn it. nothing is funny about the holocaust!
James’ lawyer is as big a moron as his client. First, he said his “godfather” gave the hat to James, and then discovered that there is no such thing as a Jewish godfather, which is related to Christian baptism. But all the comments are so right, no jew who give such a gift as a “Gag,” particularly a non-jew.YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE JEWISH TO FIND THIS VERY UNFUNNY.