It's not quite the ultimate battle of good versus evil, but it'll do: America's Sweetheart is taking on a freshly jail-broken porn star in what's shaping up to be quite the headline-grabbing custody dispute.
The child in question is 5-year-old Sunny James, the daughter of Monster Garage host Jesse James and his trouble-plagued, sobriety-challenged, adult-film-star ex, Janine Lindemulder.
For the better part of the last year, James (with a massive maternal assist from wife Sandra Bullock) has had sole custody of the child, due primarily to the fact that Lindemulder has spent the past six months behind bars for tax evasion.
But now she's out and looking for a return stake in parental duties. And what better place to find that than Good Morning America?
"What would give her the right to take away my daughter?" Lindemulder said of Bullock, toward whom the majority of her ire seems directed. "This is my daughter. I'm the best mother I can be."
And while she admitted on the morning show that she's "absolutely made horrific choices in the past," she stresses that her life is currently back on track.
Though Bullock and James beg to differ.
The duo each penned letters to the judge in Lindemulder's recent tax evasion case, urging stricter punishment and painting the erstwhile Blink-182 video vixen as an unfit parent.
"I am aware that Janine has claimed many times that my desire to have Sunny was because I could not have children of my own," Bullock writes in the letter obtained by ABC News. "As difficult as that is for me to hear, and write, it couldn't be farther from the truth."
Instead, she claims it was Lindemulder's life choices that led to the decision not to have kids of her own, saying she and James "realized that due to the instability in Sunny's life, bringing another child into the world at this time would not be in Sunny's best interest."
Also detrimental to Sunny, in Bullock's opinion? Having Lindemulder in her life.
"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 writes. "Never knowing what condition Janine will be in, and even more concerning, the condition Sunny will be in.
"While in Janine's care, sometimes Sunny is left alone during the day, while her mother is asleep from drug use."
Lindemulder, as expected, didn't let those comments slide.
"Sandy doesn't know what goes on in my house. She doesn't know how...I'd love for her to," she said on GMA. "Please, come over! I'll make dinner, let's sit down, two women."
Of the allegations about her home life—James and Bullock have criticized not only Lindemulder, but her new husband, Jeremy Aikman, who has several past state and federal convictions involving alcohol, guns and the manufacturing of narcotics—Lindemulder said the couple is simply misinformed.
"It hurts tremendously. The accusations, especially from Sandra...her even more so, because we've never sat down and talked. That's the one thing that I wish more than anything for a remedy for what's happening here, is just communication."
Still, Lindemulder acknowledged that Bullock is an "excellent mother" who genuinely cares for her daughter.
It's a compliment Bullock has taken and is seemingly ready to run with.
"I know the term 'stepmother' carries many connotations, one of them being a 'glorified babysitter,' " she writes. "My commitment and responsibility to Sunny, and Chandler and Jesse Jr., goes beyond that.
"We are FULLY prepared to accept the responsibility and make Sunny's transition as healthy as possible if full custody should be awarded to Jesse...We are here, and know we may have a tough road ahead of us but we have built a strong and stable foundation, which makes us ready for anything."
Including, one hopes, a custody battle royale.
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