US Magazine has a new cover story called “Finally Mr. Right: How Sandra Found Love.” The story is much of the same positive spin we’ve heard from Sandra’s camp about how she’s dating an amazing attractive 49 year-old photographer and single dad. As we mentioned yesterday, it seems awfully coincidental that Sandra is getting all this press right around the time she has a new movie coming out, her first since 2013. (If you don’t count Minions.) Still, this relationship seems to be happening for her and her people are trying spin public interest in her personal life into box office success. It’s typical. Here’s some of Us’s report:
The silver-haired Portland, Oregon, native is sexy enough to score work on the other side of the lens, posing for Hugo Boss and Saint Laurent. He’s also kind enough to charm any tot – a must for the mom of 5-year-old Louis. “Bryan’s a child whisperer,” says a Randall friend. “I’ve never met a kid who didn’t love him.” In fact, Randall first connected with Bullock when she needed someone to snap pictures at Louis’ January birthday party. “He loves kids,” says the Randall pal. “They’re his favorite to shoot.”
The sweet-natured single dad offers Sandra the partnership she had been waiting for. “Sandra is smart and learned a lot from the Jesse thing,” says a Bullock insider. “She doesn’t need a man to complete her, but if he fits, like Bryan does, she is made better by a relationship.” Randall’s friend and former roommate Ray Brown tells Us the feeling is mutual: “Bryan is very happy in his life right now!…”
Sober since 2005, “he never parties and doesn’t care about fame or money,” says the Randall friend…
[From US Magazine, print edition]
US goes on to include some of the quotes we’ve already heard about Brian from the mother of his ex girlfriend, 23 year-old Paris St. John. Mia St. John has a lot of nice things to say about her daughter’s ex, and credits him for being there for her after the death of her son. I mean it sounds like he’s a decent guy, it’s definitely promising that he’s been sober for ten years and hasn’t been arrested lately, but those are low-ish standards. Sandra just loves the bad boys, and she’s already experienced the pain that comes along with that. She may have “learned a lot” from marrying Jesse James, but she didn’t fix her picker.
As more evidence of that, The Daily Mail reveals that Randall spent time in rehab in the early 90s for drug issues and that he was sued in 2004 for about $2,000 in unpaid child support. As we heard earlier this week, his daughter’s mother passed away from complications from heroin addiction in 2004. Randall cared for his daughter, who is now in her 20s, after her mother passed.
photo credit: WENN.com
Why bring up things that are 20 years old when it is obvious that he has matured and gotten his act together. Will that me he won’t fall again? No.
Not paying child support is a testament to someone’s character. But getting clean and taking over custody is, too. Must be interesting to date someone famous and have all your skeletons taken out of the closet and inspected.
I’ll give a tentative ‘pass’ on that one and say that there may be more to the story, considering his own sobriety and the mother’s continued use at that point.
Married to a heroin addict; addicted himself; police record.
But he raised his child and got sober, so maybe he’s grown. Better to have grown and become sober than to always be a wishy-washy person with no depth.
Just curious – why is that last picture of Sandra (looks like a screen cap “Lorraine 9:02”) always included in the Sandy Bullock posts?
If the mother of his child was a heroin addict, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt regarding not wanting to pay child support. Maybe he was looking for ways to provide for his daughter more directly, like paying for her school. But then, who knows?
In my opinion, there is never a reason to not pay child support – no matter what. That, plus the restraining order against him, rehab, and the rest, Sandra needs to be careful.
According to the DM article, he was not involved in his daughter’s life at all until both her mother and her grandmother (who had practically raised her) died and he had to take over custody (because there was nobody else). He never spent time with the child, nor paid a penny for her.
All right, that alters my perception significantly. No benefit of the doubt in that. Thanks for clarifying!
He got way better looking as he aged. It’s very unfair.
He looks like Keanu Reeves to me. Nice.
NOPE
Keanu is gold standard. Bryan, not so much.
Jesse James 2.0. Sandra has a type. Bad boys, bad boys What you gonna do. Good luck sandy.
It sounds to me like his life was a mess, but after his wife died in 2004, he took custody of his daughter and got sober ever since, no small feat. I think people can change & can learn better paths in life. ALSO, unlike most self destructive people, Sandra didn’t latch onto a new guy soon after she and Jesse broke up; she’s had almost 5 years focusing on herself and Louis. Wishing this couple all the best, with hope and prayers!
I couldn’t imagine dating anyone famous in this day and age. Digging up everything I’ve ever done? Interviewing everyone I know for dirt? No thanks. This guy could be awesome or very well be awful, but can any normal people live up to this scrutiny?
Though I think Jesse James may have been an anomaly for Sandra – she never seemed to be that into bad boys (see Mathew M, Tate Donovan, Ryan Gosling etc)
It wouldn’t be so bad if the celebrity PR people (ahem! Huvane…) didn’t put them out there publicly and prematurely as being “The One” (and all that nonsense).
I bet they’re hoping to take the movie on the awards circuit and she wants to have him as a date and this gets all of this out of the way beforehand. With Mr. Huvane’s feather-light touch, of course.
SB publicist isn’t Stephen Huvane, its Cheryl Meisel with PMK*BNC who is her publicist she is also Keanu Reeves publicist. Now Kevin Huvane at CAA (Stephen’s brother) does manages Bullock, Streep, Kidman, Roberts, Aniston, Moore and several leading ladies. If anything she is probably going to have the guy on the awards circuit but not sure how great of an idea that is. Maybe she thinks its time she had a man in her life and doesn’t want to be alone any longer. I mean she just turned 51 so I guess there could be pings of loneliness there, I just hope she’s careful. Sometimes being alone isn’t a bad thing.
Here here, roses! Sometimes being alone is better than feeling lonely with someone else. Hear that, Sandy?
Awww why don’t Keanu and Sandra just get married already.
he’s a fixer upper for sure! i would love to see them together forever. sigh…
Me, too! But, if they got together and then split, there goes 20+ years of ‘shipping down the drain. Maybe better to stay in the “what if…” category.
I really love her and she seems to be a genuinely good person. I hope she doesn’t get screwed over. This guy sounds nice. However, I do have to say I wish she wpuld change her hair. That middle part is really getting to me.
I know. Too severe, particularly with the dark hair.
Everyone has things in their past good and bad that shape us to the people we are today. Glad he was clean and sober enough to man up and take care of his daughter after his ex passed. Before I put him in the Jesse category let’s see how things unfold.
I feel like he needs to be dating Amal Clooney instead. Unicorns gotta stick together.
“He’s a child whisperer! She has a real job! SO PERF.”
I know, and can we stop with all this “whisperer” stuff?
All that tells me is he’s a con-artist who’s good at manipulating people and presenting to them whoever they want to see. Too bad he wasn’t a child whisperer when his own daughter was a child.
As for his “tragic past”, it seems to be one of his own making.
I like that Sandra took time to be single and raise her son without immediately introducing a new guy. I think that at least speaks to protecting her son and trying to grow as a person after her divorce. So many single moms I know hop from relationship to relationship, introducing the new boyfriend to the kids right away, which can really mess the kids up when the guy leaves their lives. Or they’re like J.Lo and always needing a boyfriend at all times.
I miss Eve. She should be here to point out how difficult it would be to NOT know that one’s husband is a Nazi sympathizer. I think Sandy puts up a good facade, but I question a woman whose taste in men is that consistently poor.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: spouses hide things from their partner all the time. Drugs, affairs, even the occasional secret 2nd family. It’s really easy to look at something and say “how could you miss that” in hindsight.
We so often see what we want to see and overlook or completely ignore small signs that this person is someone other than who he/she seems.
People like Jesse are pretty good at denying who they are and doing a “snowjob” on those close to them because they’ve had a lot of practice at it.
I’m not even a particularly big Sandra Bullock fan, but the logical fallacies drive me crazy. This is a woman who won an Oscar basically because people like her so much, who is famous for treating the people she works with with respect and kindness. It’s fine if someone doesn’t like her, but it doesn’t make her a neo-Nazi.
Hmmmmm, I’ve been summoned (you forgot to draw the pentagram and say my name 5 times, T. Fanty).
Here’s the thing; I got tired of pointing out the obvious — repeatedly.
I firmly believe you are the company you keep. But for some Bullock fans, she can do no wrong. They keep findings excuses for whayever she does.
I, however, never bought her good girl’s image. Have always thought that there’s something off about/with her and her relationships seem to validate that.
P.S.: if any of her most ardent fans jump on my throat, I’ll press an immaginary “IGNORE BUTTON”. So don’t even bother.
I meant tp say “they keep findinG excuses for whaTever she does”.
Sorry, typing from my phone is a pain in the a**.
I don’t buy it either. It’s like she’s trying to piss off a parent with her choice in men, which is normal when you’re 15 but a fantastic sign you need therapy when you’re 51.
I give the benefit of a doubt that he’ll be good to her and her son. I can’t judge somebody I don’t know personally and his past is his past so long as he doesn’t revert. The only thing I don’t care for, is having him shoved in our face all of a sudden to sell more tickets to her new movie. It’s manipulative and stupid. Why would I want to see her movie more just because she has a boyfriend? I’m not saying I don’t want to see her movie. I’m just wondering why an actor/actress having a significant other should make a difference in what movies I go see. It doesn’t change her acting ability or the movie’s quality, so…..I don’t get it.
” “He loves kids,” says the Randall pal. “They’re his favorite to shoot.” ”
LOL! there is a huge difference between loving children and doing photoshoots with them. i cant imagine someone would actually enjoy that, even if you are the most child loving person in the world. its a drag.
At first I read that as “He loves kids,” says the Randall pal. “They’re his favorite food.” Ha!
I hate how US is saying “she found love again!” And it’s only been two months. I fail to believe she has not been dating anyone else in the past few years. It’s just that this one happens to be her man of the moment while she is promoting a new movie. The magazines promote this culture of moving so fast. Next week they are “going to be talking marriage”.
I just read the Daily Mail article and it’s pretty damning. Here’s what I learned:
– His daughter Skylar is 22 years old, only a year younger than his last girlfriend.
– He abandoned his daughter to be raised by her heroin-addicted mother, not even bothering to pay the court-ordered monthly child support of $187.
– What was Randall doing during those years? Basically being a full-time a**hole, with a record that includes DUI and burglary arrests.
– Even after Skylar’s mother died, he still didn’t step up to the plate. Instead, her grandmother looked after the child until she died when Skylar was mid-teens. At that point, middle-aged Randall FINALLY took responsibility for his child.
In short, we’re not talking about mistakes when he made when he was in his teens or twenties. 49-year-old Randall has only been there for his daughter since her grandmother’s death in 2009.
As far as I’m concerned, this guy makes Jesse James look like a boy scout in comparison.
—
The Daily Mail made a typo: “Randall was given custody of Skylar in 2007 after her grandmother Pierrette – known to friends as Perri – Johnson, who is credited by relatives for raising her, died in February that year. Skylar is now 22.” The scan of the court document shows that Pierrette died in 2009.
Agree, my jaw dropped when I read that piece. A far cry from just “hot-tempered and an ex-drinker,” these allegations paint him in quite a different light. So many parallels to the Jesse James situation. I’ll come right out and say it: I think he’s just using her for a fame boost. Did you see that pap shot of them hugging outside a car? It looked like a brother hugging his sister. But I’ll be happy to be proved wrong and have to eat my words. Time will tell.
@sills
Unfortunately, these aren’t just allegations — the Daily Mail article wasn’t based on hearsay, all of this is documented by the courts.
Anyway, I have the same suspicions as you. This guy seems very thirsty and Sandra’s PR team is working overtime to make him seem like a good catch, when he’s anything but.
All things considered, I’m giving Sandra the side eye. She’s got the resources to do thorough background checks on the men she dates, so Sandra must be going into this relationship with her eyes wide open and her PR team on speed dial.
The guy could be a complete a-hole, though if I can point out, it’s already been acknowledged that during the time period you mentioned he was having his own addiction problems and has supposedly been sober for a while now.
It sounds like he got sober after she’d been living with the grandmother for a while – it’s possible it would have been really disruptive for her to move in with the dad. (Or not, but I’m just putting it out there to speculate upon).
@Bridget
For most of his life, Randall has behaved like a complete a**hole and there’s no real evidence that he’s changed for the better since becoming sober a decade ago.
He was already four years sober when Skylar’s grandmother died and he finally took custody. It’s nice that you’re giving him the benefit of the doubt, but it seems to me that he was too busy living his own life (dating girls his daughter’s age and flinging dog sh*t) to be concerned about his child’s well-being.
Again, all I’m pointing out is that it may have been in her best interests to stay with the grandmother that she was already living with (and I’m guessing had been living with for some time) rather than be uprooted to go with the dad. Kids get comfort and safety from routines, and after the death of her mother that may have been the best thing for her.
We don’t know this dude, and the stuff that’s coming out about this guy is years old. Though I skipped the poop story because I have no desire to read about poop. He could indeed be awful. Or he could be a guy who’s cleaned up his act after getting sober. We get information with very little context.
@(Original, not CDAN) Violet, Well he love children…..
@VelvetPaw
Ha ha, check out Ronda’s comment (#16) above.
Posted in wrong spot, meant to reply to someone.
I love Sandy…but…..as far as men..nope….I am sorry but he looks sleazy, dirty and like a con artist. He wouldn’t take care of his child so nope……and after all rumors I tend to start believing he is a beard. She showed more affection to Jen A. in Texas than this guy. And the hug outside her vehicle, well I have more chemistry with my gynecologist.
I also think he is a beard. For years I’ve heard that Sandy is gay. Which fits her much much better and then the bad taste in guys makes much more sense. They are beards which is why she does not know them well.
How did she start going for bad boys when she was older? How weird.
Her dating history when younger seemed to make more sense.
Why do nice women always fall for a$$holes?