After Oscar accolades, private woes for Bullock

LOS ANGELES — Sandra Bullock is on a career high. America's Sweetheart and "Miss Congeniality" was repeatedly anointed as Hollywood royalty this year, sweeping awards season and capping it off with an Oscar for her role as a devoted mom in "The Blind Side."

With worldwide attention on the new Oscar winner, Bullock is being dogged by tabloid reports of problems with her husband of nearly five years.

Internet rumors surfaced Wednesday that the 45-year-old actress's husband, celebrity motorcycle builder and reality-TV star Jesse James, had been unfaithful while she was making her Oscar-winning film. Bullock subsequently canceled a planned appearance next week at the London premiere of "The Blind Side," citing "unforeseen personal reasons."

On Thursday, James apologized to his wife and three children from previous relationships through a statement issued to People magazine.

"It's because of my poor judgment that I deserve everything bad that is coming my way," he said. "This has caused my wife and kids pain and embarrassment beyond comprehension and I am extremely saddened to have brought this on them."

He added that "the vast majority of the allegations reported are untrue and unfounded," but offered no details.

There was no indication of domestic strife as the couple appeared happily arm in arm while Bullock racked up the accolades.

She called her husband "sexy" as she accepted her Screen Actor's Guild award. At the Golden Globes, Bullock told James from the stage, her voice cracking with emotion: "There's no surprise that my work got better when I met you. Because I never knew what it felt like for someone to have my back."

Things were different at the Academy Awards. Bullock did not thank her husband.

The actress and the "Monster Garage" star met in 2003 and married in 2005. Initially deemed an odd match by some — she's the girl next door, he's a tattooed bad-boy — the couple stayed blissfully out of the public eye while continuing their individual successes.

While winning an Academy Award can be a boon to actors' careers, it's not always great for their personal lives. Sean Penn won the best-actor Oscar last year for "Milk" and split with his wife, Robin Wright Penn, a few months later. (He didn't thank her in his speech, either.) Last year's best-actress winner, Kate Winslet, separated from her husband, director Sam Mendes, earlier this week.