Kat Von D is promoting her new book, The Tattoo Chronicles. The title is probably more exciting than the book, I would imagine. To promote the book, Kat granted an interview to USA Today, and she ended up discussing her romantic status with Jesse James (she denies that they’ve split), her love for vintage jewelry, and how she has no interest in being a mother. I found the jewelry stuff the most interesting, but only because she played coy about her Victorian ring. She wore it on her ring finger but wouldn’t give a straight answer about whether she and Jesse were engaged. She does defend him though:

Is Kat Von D engaged? The L.A. Ink star’s ring finger certainly seems to indicate so. A friendly Kat, dressed in black leggings, a leather jacket and glittery pink heels had a brand new accessory today: a sparkly diamond ring, sitting prettily on her left index finger.

“I don’t know if I really feel comfortable talking about it,” she told USA TODAY’s Andrea Mandell before heading out to sign copies of her new book, The Tattoo Chronicles, at Barnes and Noble in NYC.

We had to ask: Is it an engagement ring?

“It’s actually a ring from the 1900s,” is all Kat would say. But the friendly tattooist confirms she’s definitely still with Jesse James — and says the rumors that she’s back with her exes are just that. “I’m not dating Nikki (Sixx),” she says. “We didn’t get back together. Jesse and I didn’t break up.”

The TV star tells us she just started wearing the diamond ring. “Yeah, it’s been an addition to all the rest of my jewelry and my Victorian collection,” she says, glancing at the sparkler. “They don’t make things like this anymore. There’s no more craftsmanship in a lot of things.”

Kat says she’s proud to have James in her corner. “I’ve known Jesse for a long time, since I was 22 years old,” she says. “I think he’s probably one of the most kind-hearted, intelligent human beings.”

Kat, who does a lot of volunteering with children, says kids aren’t in her future. “Since I was seven I knew I was never going to have children,” she says. I love children, children like me because they think I’m a cartoon,” she says with a laugh. “But I’m married to my job. I love what I do.”

[From USA Today]

Kind hearted? Intelligent? Oh really? Whenever I think to myself “Maybe I should cut Jesse James some slack” I think about this. Or this. I won’t debate whether Jesse has a kind heart – I don’t know him, and maybe he does have good intentions (and he just f-cks up a lot). But one thing I do know for sure – this is not a smart man. And Kat just showed how few quality men she’s ever met. By the way, do you think they’re engaged? It wouldn’t surprise me, honestly. Nothing about Jesse’s “intelligence” surprises me at this point.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

We’ve heard conflicting stories as to whether Kat Von D and Jesse James are still on. US Weekly reported in their feel-good piece on Sandra Bullock’s vacation that Kat and Jesse were still dating, and that Kat was “just friends” with the other men she’s been spotted out with, like Bam Margera and her ex, Nikki Sixx. People Magazine also has a new piece about how Kat and Jesse were spotted out in LA over the weekend sharing an enchilada and looking very couple-y. Jesse recently shut down his West Coast Choppers customizing shop in Long Beach, CA, although TMZ reports that his other business there, Cisco Burger, is doing well and will continue to operate. Jesse of course moved to Austin, Texas, to concentrate on his business there and make sure that he haunts Sandra Bullock forever Sandra can see his kids.

TMZ has several stories that claim that tattoo artist Kat is back with Nikki Sixx and has deep sixed her relationship with Jesse. She supposedly demanded that scenes in which she trash talked Sixx be cut from her reality show, LA Ink, and that scenes where she’s shown going out with Jesse similarly be cut. That’s got to be expensive for producers to re-edit and reshoot to try and keep up with her love life.

More drama behind the scenes at “L.A. Ink” — where sources tell us Kat Von D went nuclear over the way her ex-boyfriend Jesse James was portrayed in an upcoming episode.

Multiple sources tell us the recent drama began in the last few days … after Kat viewed screeners of some upcoming episodes which spotlight her relationships with Jesse and her on-again BF Nikki Sixx.

We’re told Kat — who was dating Jesse when the show was being taped — has decided that she no longer wants any traces of him on the TLC show … and demanded that producers pull him from all future episodes.

Now, producers are desperately trying to rip Jesse from the show — but we’re told there’s so much content to remove … they’re worried they may to pack the show with extra commercials to fill out the time before the show airs Wednesday night.

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Kat Von D just went nuclear on the producers of her reality show “L.A. Ink” — threatening a legal war over several scenes that feature Kat trash-talking her on-again boyfriend Nikki Sixx.

Sources close to the production tell us … Kat went ballistic on producers earlier this week when she viewed screeners for upcoming episodes of “Ink” which air on TLC starting Wednesday night … which contained several scenes featuring Kat going off about her then ex-boyfriend Nikki Sixx.

Here’s the problem — the footage was shot a while ago, while Kat was dating Jesse James … and back then, she still harbored some ill-feelings toward Nikki.

But now, Kat and Nikki are back together — and when Kat previewed the footage from the upcoming episodes, which contained the anti-Nikki smack talk, we’re told Kat “freaked out.”

We’re told Kat demanded producers re-edit the show ASAP — removing all negative Nikki references and killing a storyline involving a “Nikki vs. Jesse” theme … or else she would file legal papers in an attempt to stop the show dead in its tracks.

In the end — we’re told producers begrudgingly obliged and Kat’s comments will never see the light of day.

[From two stories on TMZ]

I’m getting the impression that if she keeps this up she won’t have a reality show for much longer. The market is crowded and there’s plenty of competition. Kat has a new book out, The Tattoo Chronicles, and is about to go on a two month book tour. She’s been tweeting a lot back and forth with Nikki Sixx, which makes it look like she’s at least still “friends” with the guy. It’s likely that Kat and Jesse are off-again and that someone in Sandra’s camp wants to make it seem like they’re still together. Or maybe Kat is willing to sleep with Jesse occasionally in exchange for the publicity.

Kat and Jesse are shown out together on 9/3 and 9/4/10. Credit: Fame She’s also shown at the Jackass 3D premiere on 10/13/10. Credit: WENN.com

Jesse James has made the decision to shut down his West Coast Choppers customizing shop in favor of focusing his efforts full time on his business in Texas, the Austin Speed Shop. Jesse of course moved to Austin with his three kids from his two exes to be close to the other ex he so publicly wronged, Sandra Bullock. TMZ reports that Jesse just wants to build his other business, but I would bet the decision is a financial one. He also owns a fast food restaurant, Cisco Burger, right next door to West Coast Choppers in Long Beach, CA. The fate of that business is unclear.

Jesse James’ Southern California bike operation has officially hit the skids — TMZ has confirmed the celebrity gearhead is shutting down the West Coast Choppers bike shop in Long Beach.

Sources close to Jesse tell us … James is living full-time in Texas and wants to focus on his shop out there.

WCC has been a staple in Long Beach since the early ’90s. So far, no word on what Jesse plans to do with Cisco Burger – his burger joint located right next to the bike shop.

[From TMZ]

In 2006, James admitted that customizing bikes isn’t profitable and that most of his revenue comes from tie-in businesses that enhance the brand like his clothing line. He said “We probably lose money on every motorcycle we build still, and luckily we have other businesses to support the bike shop.” Earlier profiles of his company have their revenue derived almost 60% from clothing sales including t-shirts, sneakers and belt buckles. Jesse sells his clothing through Walmart, and is being sued by a clothing company who claims they were cut out of the deal. Now that his brand is in the crapper I’m sure those other businesses aren’t doing as well and can no longer float the shop. He held those eBay auctions following the scandal and I would guess he was feeling the pinch back then. This is what happens when you tie your business success to your image. When your name is mud, your business suffers.

Photos are from May, June and July. Credit: Fame Pictures

As if we really needed confirmation after People Magazine suggested it! Life & Style’s Scene Queens claim that Kat Von D has officially dumped Jesse James, and she’s now back with her ex Nikki Sixx. So why did she even go with Jesse? She was using him for press, and she was using him to get back with Nikki… because I guess Nikki would have gotten jealous of Jesse? Ugh.

Life & Style’s Scene Queens can reveal that Kat Von D has not only dumped her controversial boyfriend after just two months, but she’s back with her ex-boyfriend Nikki Sixx.

“Kat used Jesse to win Nikki back, and it worked,” a pal of Kat’s tells the Scene Queens. “She also was using Jesse for the press.”

Kat, coincidentally, is promoting both her new book and TV show and was spotted out with Nikki on Oct. 5 at the House of Blues. Less than a week later, Kat was spotted with Jackass star (and rumored former flame) Bam Margera at Cleo restaurant.

When asked back in September if Jesse was the one, Kat said, “I believe he is, so yeah,” but the once hot-and-heavy couple have not been spotted together since Oct. 3. “Jesse and Kat are definitely over. Done,” a pal of Jesse’s tells the Scene Queens. “He’s in Austin, she’s in LA.”

[From Life & Style]

Well… from what I’ve seen, Bam Margera is with a girlfriend whose name I don’t know, so I don’t think there’s anything going on between Kat and Bam. But I think everything else is probably true. I’m kind of glad Kat was the one to dump Jesse – I don’t like Kat or anything, but it’s always nice to see a jackass like Jesse get dumped by some trashy girl.

People Magazine is speculating as to the state of Jesse James and Kat Von D’s relationship. When People Magazine is calling you out, you know they have some good, reliable sources that are telling them some sh-t. I noted in yesterday’s post about Kat Von D that she had gone solo to the Jackass 3D premiere, but I honestly didn’t think anything of it. Turns out, her solo outing might have been a signal that she and Jesse are either on the rocks, or may already be over:

Kat Von D proclaimed her love for Jesse James only last month, but is trouble already brewing between the tattooed twosome?

The couple were last seen together lunching at The Counter in West Hollywood on Oct. 3. At the time, “they looked very happy and kept kissing,” a source tells PEOPLE.

But a source says that Von D isn’t happy about James’s having moved to Austin, Texas, and is losing patience with their “weekend fly-back-and-forth relationship.” And since the pair’s last outing, the L.A. Ink star, 28, has been spotted getting close to other guys.

On Oct. 5 during a Slash concert at the House of Blues, Von D was seen hanging out in the V.I.P. section with her ex-boyfriend Nikki Sixx. “They were on the balcony chatting and ended up disappearing together,” a source tells PEOPLE. “They were acting pretty cozy and chummy.”

This week, Von D was “smiling and flirting over an intimate dinner” at the Redbury Hotel’s Cleo restaurant in Hollywood, with rumored former love interest Bam Margera. “They were being very sweet to each other,” an onlooker says. “They didn’t hang around for long, and after a quick cigarette break, they made a dash for the exit.”

A source says Von D and Margera, who is married, “are not more than friends.” They both attended Wednesday night’s Jackass 3D premiere in L.A., where Von D once again spent time with her ex, Nikki Sixx.

A rep for Von D has no comment.

[From People]

It wouldn’t surprise me if they were over. And I could see either of them doing the dumping, too. Jesse could have dumped Kat because she’s a famewhore and she was just using the relationship for attention. Kat could have dumped him for the same reasons, or because she wasn’t interested in being a step-mom, or because Jesse is more screwed up than she expected. I don’t know, I’m just speculating. I’m just saying, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if People’s reporting was right on the money.

Here are new photos of Kat Von D from last night’s premiere of Jackass 3D. She went to the premier solo – because she’s totally a celebrity now. Unfortunately, she is. She looks almost… nice. Right? All covered up and demure. I kind of like the Sgt. Pepper coat too. What I hate though is whatever is happening to her feet:

Um… really? That’s gross. Anyway, Life & Style has another gross story about Kat and her boyfriend Jesse James. They scored an interview with Jesse’s ex Janine, who claims that their daughter Sunny told her (Janine) that Jesse and Kat were dating for months and months before they went public. It’s only interesting if you consider that Kat was trying to play it like it’s a whirlwind romance. But it’s not interesting when you consider the fact that pretty much everyone in this situation – with the exception of Sunny – is a f-cking famehwore who will do anything to get in the press:

In an exclusive interview with Life & Style, Jesse James’ ex and Sunny’s biological mother, Janine Lindemulder, says Jesse’s romance with new girlfriend Kat Von D is getting serious. “Kat is closer and closer to becoming a stepmom,” Janine reveals to Life & Style.

In fact, Sunny already knows Kat well, says Janine. While Jesse and Kat have been publicly dating only since mid-August, Sunny let Janine know the romance has been going on a lot longer. When the relationship was supposedly new, “I got Sunny on the phone and she said, ‘Kat’s here,’” Janine recalls. “Then she said to me, ‘You know, Mom, I haven’t known Kat just a couple of weeks. I’ve known her for months.’”

Janine also says it’s way too soon for Sunny to handle another parental figure in her life. Sunny, says Janine, “is still grieving over missing Sandra and missing her brother.”

Janine even wrote Kat a letter asking that Kat hold off on introducing herself to Sunny — but it was too late. “She says that Louis isn’t her brother and Sandra doesn’t have her last name, James, anymore. She thinks her baby brother is gone. She’s really hurting.”

[From Life & Style]

Yeah, I believe Sunny is hurting. That little girl has had her world turned upside down. Her mom sounds psycho, her dad is neo-Nazi-boning douche, and her former step-mom has moved on. And now daddy is dating Kat Von D and her weird smug face. Poor Sunny.

Photos of Kat on October 13, 2010. Credit: Fame.

Kat Von D and Jesse James have been dating for about three months, at most. So, of course, they want to get married. At least according to the tabloids. This Star story seems like it’s been transcribed from Kat’s dream journal though. I often wonder about that – sometimes a tabloid “source” really seems to be pushing an agenda that only really matters to them. I mean, does Kat have friends who care enough to go to Star and talk about how Kat and Jesse are so in love? Probably not, given that her ex-husband claims she‘s shady as hell, and her actions and previous interviews seem to attest to that. So I’m wondering if the source is Kat herself. It certainly sounds like her.

Tattooed twosome Jesse James and Kat Von D have only been dating since midsummer – and the ink on his late-June divorce from wife of five years Sandra Bullock is barely dry. Yet the duo are already discussing marriage, and insider reveals!

“Jesse and Kat love to send each other racy text messages when they are apart, and Jesse took things a lot further recently. He playfully asked Kat via text if she’d consider marrying again.”

Kat, who was previously hitched to tattoo artist Oliver Peck, gushed that her answer would be yes if the thrice-wed father of three asked for her hand. And she and Jesse have revisited the subject several times since.

“Jesse told Kat that he’ll get her a ring sooner rather than later,” says the insider. “He’s convinced that’s she’s the one he’s meant to be with.”

[From Star Magazine, print edition]

See? It’s all about Kat and how happy she and Jesse are. Anyway, if this is true, Jesse needs his damn head examined. I get that Jesse and Kat totally deserve each other, and that they made their own beds, etc. But at some point, Jesse is going to realize that he doesn’t have to marry every girl he dates, right? This would be his… fourth marriage, right? And how many kids? Two? By two different women. Did he ever ask himself if Kat would be a good step-mom? If doesn’t step back and really look at his self-destructive patterns, how will he ever change them?

I mean… how can you not love this photo? Let’s face it, we all have photos like this, where we look hideous and like we have massive double chins. We don’t all have ex-husbands who sell our bad photos to the tabloids, however. This pic was provided to us by In Touch Weekly, who seem to have quite a thing going with Kat Von D’s ex-husband. As you may remember, her ex, Oliver Peck, already told ITW that Kat was a piece of work when he was married to her, calling her a user, a cheater and a famewhore. In his second interview, Peck describes Kat’s eating disorder and her past drug usage, and how she didn’t even think Jesse James was very cool when they first met.

Jesse James’ new girlfriend, Kat Von D, once said she’d like to be remembered as “a good friend to everyone.” But if that’s what she wants, she may have a long way to go, Oliver Peck — who owns Elm Street Tattoo in Dallas and was married to Kat from 2003 to 2007 — tells In Touch in an exclusive interview.

“She’s the most self-centered person I’ve ever been involved with,” he shares. “Toward the end of our marriage…she was wanting to get liposuction, and she was taking drugs in order to lose weight.”

Her newfound fame changed her in other ways, too. Kat “got to the point where she was drinking until she was throwing up every day,” shares Oliver of the 28-year-old, who finally got sober in 2008.

“She’d be incoherent and sometimes destructive.” Oliver says he tried to stand by her — until a friend told him “she was having an affair.”

The idea of a marriage-ending affair is ironic, considering that her new boyfriend is one of Hollywood’s most notorious cheaters.

“Kat and I met Jesse and Sandra [Bullock] about four years ago at a party,” reveals Oliver. “Kat said she thought Jesse wasn’t very cool.”

[From In Touch Weekly]

Sour grapes? Eh. I think this guy is probably telling the truth – or at least, this was his experience. But I do think he sounds extraordinarily bitter, and like he’s not through obsessing over their marriage. That being said, Kat does sound like she has serious issues, and those issues aren’t going to heal themselves while she’s dating some Nazi-skank-boning douche. Or maybe she and Jesse deserve each other? Eh.

Header pic courtesy of In Touch.

We’ve seen all sorts of photos of Jesse James out with his supposed new girlfriend, L.A. Ink’s Kat Von D. Kat has told anyone who will listen that she’s with Jesse, and she seems to be calling the paparazzi to let them know where to find the two of them when they’re out. People magazine now has a completely unnecessary and rather lame-sounding story about how Jesse has moved on and is no longer fixated on repairing the relationship with Sandra Bullock that he sh*t all over. We get it, we got it, and this additional story is just giving this whole “romance” the whiff of a set up. I’m not saying that Jesse isn’t boning Kat, the guy would take any tattooed piece in his immediate vicinity, but that all the photos and quotes are overkill. I still love Sandra, but I’d love her a little more if her people weren’t so damn obvious. They didn’t need to tell us when Jesse was working his pitiful act trying to earn back her good graces, and they don’t need to tell us when he’s with another woman. The event photos were plenty. Here’s People story, and try not to groan too much:

“It sure looks like he’s moved on,” a James insider tells PEOPLE about the motorcycle mogul, who is settling into his new relationship with Kat Von D and his new home in Austin, Texas. “It doesn’t look like he’s hiding anything now.”

Just two months after his divorce from Sandra Bullock was finalized in an Austin courtroom, James’s self-professed broken heart looks to be on the mend. He was initially cautious about going public with his romance with the L.A. Ink star, says the source, and he asked Von D to remove a Tweet confirming that the two were dating after they were spotted having dinner together in Las Vegas on Aug. 14.

But then the couple spent the last two weekends together. On Aug. 29, James, 41, was seen with Von D, 28, in Texas on a motorcycle road trip that included smooching, handholding and antique shopping in the quaint tourist town of Fredericksburg.

Later, James accompanied Von D to Sept. 2′s very public opening of her Wonderland gallery in West Hollywood and spent the rest of the Labor Day weekend out with her.

“My guess is that he’s realizing he won’t get another chance with Sandra and has given up on that,” says the source. “[Jesse and Kat] have known each other for a while. I think the opportunity presented itself with neither of them being involved with anyone and it happened.”

[From People]

Note to reps: you do not have to issue lame ass “insider” statements to People Magazine. The 90s were twenty years ago and we like to draw our own conclusions now. You’re welcome to point us in that direction with obvious photo opportunities for your clients. (Which again are usually obvious, so do it in moderation.) Beyond that, it just seems so desperate to issue “insider quotes” telling us how to think.

In other news about these two tattooed lovers, The National Enquirer reports that Jesse has already proposed to Kat, because he needs a gullible woman at home to be his rock while he bones chicks at work. They write that “[Jesse has] proposed to… Kat Von D – but he’s asked [her] to be patient for his kids’ sake and wait for a secret summer wedding next year.” The Enquirer quotes an insider who claims “They’re in love and even planning on doing some business ventures together. But he knows it’s going to be a big transition for his kids, and he wants to take his time so they can get to know Kat better.” Could Jesse be that stupid? He’s been married and divorced three times so far and he’s only 41, so yes.

US Weekly has a new story this week about how Jesse is rubbing his romance with Kat Von D in Sandra’s face. We’ve heard this before from the tabloids, and frankly I think that Sandra’s team is encouraging Jesse to go out with Kat so that it looks like she’s well over him. I also believe, like Kaiser, that Kat is calling the paps on herself as she’s eager to soak up the publicity. US has a little more than the other gossip rags, though, and claims that Jesse is being a real bastard to Sandra and that he’s not even civil with her. That sounds likely. Here’s part of US’s report:

Locals can’t stand Jesse James
Even though James owns a motorcycle shop in the area and just moved into a $1.8 million house in Austin (so that his kids, Sunny, 6, Jesse Jr., 12, and Chandler, 16, could eb close to their future stepmom, says a source), locals aren’t exactly welcoming him with open arms. “If Jesse is coming to Texas now, Sandy might leave Austin for good,” frets the Bullock source. “Losing a gem like Sandy would be sad for the Lone Star State!”

Jesse is mean to Sandra
Not surprisingly, “things are really tense between Sandy and Jesse,” says a source. His rebound romance aside, “Jesse has been really angry. He’s mean to hear. They’re not on good terms.” Though she still sees his kids, “she does not see him,” says another insider. “She is still very bitter and has not forgiven him.”

[From US Weekly, print edition, September 20, 2010]

That sounds just like Jesse, to be angry and giving Sandra the cold shoulder for refusing to put up with the fact that he slept around with a bunch of skanks. It’s not like Sandra ever had a cross word to say about him to the press, either. He probably thinks she should be kissing his ass for bringing his kids to live near her, even though it was a lame attempt to get her to fall for his bullsh*t yet again. Now that she’s not playing his game any more, his true miserable self can come out, rage at the world, and get used by Kat Von D for some PR.

Oh and we already addressed the “Kat is pregnant, she has a bump” rumors, (which was denied by her rep to Gossip Cop) but I just wanted to add that she’s had that food bump for some time. I remember seeing photos of her in 2007 in which she was puffing out her stomach and pregnancy rumors followed. She made a joke on her show at the time that she was pregnant. It looks like she just gains weight in that area. She probably wore that tight Leger dress so that people would talk about her.

Photos are from 9/2 and 9/3/10. Credit: WENN.com