Christie Brinkley Breaks Down in Court
Christie Brinkley Breaks Down in Court
With her divorce trial underway, Christie Brinkley has a long hard road ahead of her. And it sounds like things are already getting pretty tough.
During the second day of the proceedings, the supermodel reportedly broke down in tears as she explained to the court the manner in which she was informed of her husband’s infidelity.
Brinkley recalled that she was delivering a commencement address at a Hamptons-area high school back in 2006 when the step-father of her husband’s mistress’ confronted her.
“Suddenly, I heard these words … I heard, ‘That husband of yours just won’t knock it off. He’s having an affair with my teenage daughter and that bastard won’t knock it off and I have to come to you,’” said a teary Christie.
“I said, ‘What did you say?’ At this point my eyes were fading out at the edges, this tunnel vision in a way. I looked at Peter and he was just going ‘no’ and I thought it’s true — he did that.”
Brinkley’s attorney also told the court the Peter Cook (Christie’s soon-to-be ex) had run up an internet pornography bill to the tune of $3000.
Nevertheless, Cook told press that this trial “is about parenting and remaining in my children’s lives in the same presence I’ve always had. I’m not going to let her take my children the way she has with the last two fathers.”
This one’s gonna get messy!
"Shattered" Brinkley Takes Stand in Divorce Trial
Dealing with the fallout of her husband’s betrayal didn’t feel like a death to just Christie Brinkley, it felt like one to her friends, too.
The erstwhile cover girl took the stand during the second day of testimony in her public divorce trial from philandering architect Peter Cook Thursday, testifying as to her confrontation with Cook and subsequent reaction after learning of his affair with an 18-year-old staffer.
“I just said to Peter, ’How could you?’ ” she said on the stand, making her testimony all the more poignant by choosing that moment to look at Cook head-on for the first time in the two-day trial.
Brinkley further testified that she learned of her husband’s affair with Diana Bianchi from the teen’s police officer stepfather, Brian Platt. He had informed Brinkley of her husband’s infidelity moments before she was to speak at a local schoolan incident she referred to as “the day my world was completely shattered.”
“I turned to look at Peter,” she said. “His face was so tense…He was saying, ’No.’ I thought, ’Oh my god. It’s true. He did it.’ I knew from his face. It explained the feelings I’d been trying not to feel.”
When she further confronted Cook with the man’s claims, Brinkley said he asked her, “You’re not going to believe that man over me, are you?”
Brinkley said the couple’s now 10-year-old son was with them at the time and that she “saw little Jack’s face looking at his dad, the man and me. I thought, I am going to pass out.”
At that point, she asked Cook to take her home so as not to break down in public. After they arrived, she quickly left again on her own.
“I was just in shock,” she said. “I just started driving away from my perfect life. I thought I had the picket fence. We were happy.”
In addition to the shock of it all, Brinkley said her initial reaction was “to get to the bottom of this. I need to know.”
Prior to Brinkley taking the stand at Central Islip Supreme Court, her close friend and Today entertainment correspondent Jill Rappaport testified to Brinkley’s depressed state following the June 25, 2006, argument that led to the disintegration of the couple’s marriage.
Rappaport said she found Brinkley pulled over on the side of a public road.
“When I got there, Christie was lying on the ground huddled over with her hands on her knees. I thought she had died,” Rappaport said. “She was sobbing…almost catatonic. I grabbed her by the shoulders, and she said, ’Can you believe this? Please tell me this is a nightmare.’ “
Later, Brinkley also addressed Cook’s witness stand confession that he spent $3,000 per month on pay Internet porn sites during their 10-year marriage.
“I found conversations of him trying to lure girls, saying he would take them shopping, saying he would pay them if he could see their face.
“I felt really stupid. Why didn’t I know? Why wasn’t I aware of this? I felt humiliated. I felt shattered. I just felt grief-stricken.”
Brinkley said she confronted Cook about her findings and “he said it was an abberation, something he was only into now because of the guys in the office.”
During a recess, Cook belittled Brinkley’s tearful testimony, “Shrek was more believable,” he quipped, per Newsday.
Roughly 30 witnesses are expected to take the stand in the case, which will run about four weeks.
The first day of testimony yesterday featured Brinkley’s daughter with Billy Joel, Alexa Ray Joel, as well as Bianchi and Cook, who did his fair share of bawling during his time on the stand.
Brinkley Case Turns to Porn, Hush Money
Christie Brinkley wanted her divorce trial to be open to the public to ensure nothing was kept private. She should be careful what she wishes for.
Neither Brinkley’s attorneys nor estranged hubby Peter Cook left any sordid stone unturned when the confessed philanderer testified as the case’s first witness today.
Chief among the revelations from the 49-year-old architect’s testimony was the admission that after sleeping with his then-18-year-old employee Diana Bianchi for the first timein his office, no lesshe paid her $300,000 in hopes she would keep their affair under wraps.
Money not that well spent, as it turns out.
Facing questioning from Brinkley’s attorneys, Cook also copped to showering the teen with spending money. At one point he hid $500 for her under a rock and another time behind a painting, and he bought her various gifts, including a London Jewelers watch and Victoria’s Secret lingerie.
In opening statements that surely did not disappoint the swarm of media assembled in the courtroom, Brinkley attorney Robert Stephan Cohen revealed that Cook spent in the vicinity of $3,000 a month on Internet porn sites during his marriage to Brinkley.
Per Cohen, Brinkley discovered, after learning of his infidelity, that Cook was logging on to two sex sites in particular, using the names “wannaseeall” and “happyladdie2002,” and at one point even went so far as to upload a video of himself masturbating.
“That is the man who’s come before this court and asked for custody of his 13-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter,” Cohen said in scathing opening remarks.
Cohen also accused Cook of being something of a wicked stepfather to Alexa Ray Joel, Brinkley’s 22-year-old daughter with ex-husband Billy Joel, claiming Cook had “constant criticism” for the young woman. Alexa Ray Joel is expected to testify later on during the trial. While Billy Joel is not expected to take the stand, Cohen said he is nevertheless a part of the children’s lives.
“Uncle Billy is around to support these kids,” Cohen said.
Meanwhile, Cook’s attorney, Norman Sheresky, acknowledged his client’s online proclivities but said that it did not preclude his being a good parent.
“It was wrong, and he said it was wrong,” the lawyer said, adding that Brinkley’s own past was hardly exemplary.
“For goodness’ sake, she’s on her fourth husband. Your honor, we’re here because of the self-indulgent wrath of a woman scorned.”
Bianchi, now 21, took the stand next. She showed up late to the courthouse donning a fitted white shirt, gray pencil skirt and peach patent leather shoes.
“We had been working together, and he had shown interest in me and I reciprocated,” Bianchi explained. “It was a mutual thing.”
She said Cook began giving her thousands of dollars in gifts even before they began their affair.
While first-day talk has mainly revolved around Cook’s infidelity, thanks to a prenup, financial matters are not at stake in the trial. Instead, both sides are fighting for custody of daughter Sailor and son Jack, Brinkley’s child from a previous marriage whom Cook adopted.
Cook’s attorney wasted no time in getting in an early dig on Brinkley’s parenting skills, saying the court need look no further than her desire to keep the increasingly salacious trial open to the public.
“That’s putting her agenda in front of the best interests of the children. What kind of a mother wants her husband flogged in public?”
Make that soon-to-be ex-husband.
Before the trial kicked off this morning, a tearful Brinkley, 54, told reporters, “I’d hoped with all my heart we could have settled this out of court.”
And at the end of this long first day, she said in a brief statement: “I heard a lot of new things I didn’t know today…I need some time to let it all absorb.”
The proceedings are expected to last about a month.
D-Day Arrives for Christie Brinkley
Somehow, “messy” just doesn’t seem to cover it.
The divorce trial of Christie Brinkley and her soon-to-be-ex fourth husband is shaping up to be ugly as both parties appear in a Long Island courtroom this morning for the first day of proceedings, including a supporting turn by the other woman.
The 54-year-old former cover girl filed for divorce from 49-year-old architect Peter Cook in 2006, after 10 years of marriage, following reports he had carried on an affair with then-18-year-old staffer Diana Bianchiwhich he later confirmed in an open letter to the New York Post.
Wasting no time on courtroom pleasantries, or closed courtrooms, Bianchi is expected to be among the first witnesses to take the stand.
Instead of the de rigueur celeb practice of closing courtrooms and sealing even the most innocuous documents, this case will be open for public consumption.
Last month, Brinkley opposed a legal move (backed by Cook) that would have closed the proceedings. As a result, the Central Islip Supreme Court took the precaution of moving the case to a larger courtroom than planned in anticipation of a swarm of press.
Judging by this morning’s crowd, it was not an unwise move.
“So much has already been in the press about what happened,” Brinkley’s attorney, Robert Stephan Cohen, said. “We believe the only way to get at the truth is through an open courtroom. Mr. Cook shouldn’t be embarrassed. If he is, it’s his own fault.”
A second woman, Carri Lyn Ciamarra, is also set to take the stand in the early days of the trial. The 31-year-old fitness model, who was and still is married, will testify that she too carried on an affair with Cook last year.
While the finer details of the disintegration of their marriage have more or less already been dissected ad nauseum by the press, Cook’s infidelity, while sure to grab the most headlines, is not at the crux of the trial.
As the couple had the foresight to hammer out a prenuptial agreement in their relationship’s salad days, the trial will serve to determine custody, not financial, matters.
Brinkley’s 12-year-old son, Jack, with previous husband Richard Taubman, was adopted by Cook during the course of their marriage. They also have a biologicial, 9-year-old daughter, Sailor.
Both are seeking primary custody of the kids.
“He wants custody,” said Cook’s attorney, Norman Sheresky. “He thinks he’s the better parent.”
Brinkley’s team, as expected, heartily disagrees.
“All this publicity has been generated by Peter’s abysmal behavior. The notion that he’s a candidate for custody is beyond anything.”
In addition to the children, the trial will also serve to determine the division of some of the couple’s joint property, including three boats and real estate.
The proceedings are expected to last roughly four weeks.