Sandra Bullock: How Did She Keep the Secret?

Oscar-winning actress changed the topic from cheating husband to new baby.

ByABC News via logo
April 28, 2010, 8:59 AM

April 29, 2010— -- Since the shocking revelation about Sandra Bullock's new baby boy, many people are wondering how, in a town full of paparazzi, bloggers and tipsters, the Oscar-winning actress managed to keep such a big secret.

"I think she is smart enough to realize the intensity of the scrutiny that is out there from the paparazzi and the media," public relations executive Howard Bragman said on "Good Morning America" today. "And, as she said, it was a CIA operation. I think they had dummy cars, I think they had tinted windows, they had a lot of people on her team who were very discreet."

People magazine reported this week that Bullock, 45, had filed to end her five-year marriage to Jesse James, 41, after his reported infidelities. But the biggest revelation was that she had adopted a 3½-month-old son, Louis, from New Orleans.

"She has said she had a very close-knit group of friends and family who basically ferried her to different places, she really was able to stay under the radar and it is astonishing," Caroline Schaefer, the executive editor of US magazine, said.

She and James began the adoption process four years ago but decided to keep the details under wraps until after the Oscars. Now, she plans to raise him as a single mom.

Bullock timed the announcement of her new baby perfectly, Bragman said, and successfully changed the conversation from her reportedly cheating husband to her son.

"She waited just the right beat to let the divorce dialogue go away … then she holds this beautiful baby up on the cover of People magazine and not only does she put the divorce behind her, she changed the dialogue and she did it on her terms, her way," Bragman said. "And everybody in Hollywood is kind of tickled that they kept a secret this long."

Bullock revamped her image, Schaefer said, and she has gotten out of addressing the scandal because the focus is now on the baby.

"All of a sudden, she's in control," Schaefer said. "I think for a while she was the victim, people felt so sorry for her. Here she was at the top of her career, she just won an Oscar, and then all of a sudden to have it all come crashing down, she was getting pity. Now, she looks like a hero."