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Dirt Spilled in Christie Brinkley's Divorce Trial
By
Jen Chung
Published Jul 4, 2008
Modified Jul 4, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jul 4, 2008
Modified Jul 4, 2008
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Left photograph of Bianchi (in the white shirt), middle photograph of Brinkley and right photograph of Cook, all by Mary Altaffer/AP
The contentious divorce between All-American model Christie Brinkley and her estranged husband Peter Cook keeps revealing more and more salacious details. The couple separated when Brinkley found out Cook was having an affair with an 18-year-old employee at his architecture firm.
Brinkley fought for--and won--open hearings during the trial, prompting Cook's lawyer to question her parenting in harming their children (the couple has a daughter and also raised a son from one of Brinkley's previous marriages) with making certain details public--only for Brinkley's lawyer to claim all divorce hearings are open. Anyway, here are some of the highlights (or lowlights):
- Cook admitted to spending thousands on Internet porn, signed up for swinger websites, and pleasured while filming himself via webcam. He also claimed he and Brinkley watched porn to get in the mood in the early years of their 10-year marriage.
- Cook cried when admitting, "My son told me: 'Mommy's looking at naked pictures of your girlfriends on the computer.'"
- Employee-turned-mistress Diana Bianchi said Cook offered her $300,000 to keep quiet about the affair.
- Bianchi's stepfather told Brinkley about Cook's affair after she gave a high school commencement ceremony, saying "That husband of yours just won't knock it off. He's having an affair with my teenage daughter. That bastard won't knock it off ...so I had to come to you."
- Brinkley found Cook's profiles on online sites, where he offered to pay women for sex.
- Cook denied having the affair, and then said, "You are not going to believe that man over me, are you? ...You can't believe a word he said. The man's a drunk... He's murdered somebody, and you can't believe a word he said.'"
- Cook threatened to kill himself in the days after Brinkley found out about the affair.
Brinkley said she forgave Bianchi, who she feels was "manipulated" by Cook. Cook, for his part, said "Shrek was more believable" than his wife. The former couple is fighting over some property (though not Brinkley's $30 million estate) and custody of their children--Brinkley wants sole custody while Cook wants joint custody.
Tagged
affair
christie brinkley
court fight
divorce
Internet porn
peter cook
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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