Fan Fare » divorce

Christie Brinkley says won’t marry again

Bob Tourtellotte — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 00:21:07 +0000

Model Christie Brinkley walked away from a brutal divorce trial agreeing to pay $2.1 million to her ex-husband, Peter Cook, whose dirty laundry was aired in court in testimony describing his affair with a teenage assistant and how he ponied up $300,000 to keep her from tellling anyone.

And so it may come as little surprise that Brinkley, 54, a 1980s magazine glamour queen who has been married four times, has no plans to head back to the altar.

“I’m not going to marry again,” Brinkley told the New York Post in a story published online on Friday.

“I know too much about the marriage laws and divorce laws,” she said. “Getting married again would not be a very intelligent thing to do.”

Cook will probably be remembered as Brinkley’s most notorious husband, after five days of testimony that revealed his $3,000-a-month porn habit and the lengths he went to keep his affair with then 18-year-old Diana Bianchi a secret.

The New York Post reported that Brinkley’s estate is worth an estimated $60 million, and that she gets to keep her 18 houses in the divorce settlement.

Brinkley, who was photographed in stylish clothes as she came and left the courtroom, said there was one good reason to settle the case.

“I was down to my last outfit!” she joked. “It had to end.”

    (Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis)

Christie Brinkley’s tough two days in court

Bob Tourtellotte — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:51:32 +0000

It’s been a tough two days in divorce court for model Christie Brinkley, an icon of 1980s glamour, and her estranged husband, Peter Cook. The two were married in 1996, and their divorce proceeding is in a Long Island, New York court to resolve child custody issues.

Brinkley has accused husband Cook of cheating on her with a teenager and being hooked on porn in a New York trial that has elicited tearful testimony from each and an appearance from Brinkley’s daughter, Alexa, from her former marriage to singer Billy Joel.

Brinkley, 54, said on the witness stand on Thursday that her architect husband’s infidelity left her feeling raw. “I think a certain amount of anger is perfectly normal,” Brinkley said, in testimony cited by the New York Daily News.

“After all, I supported this man for almost 10 years. He never paid for a single thing. He lived a wonderful life. And all the while he was carrying on like this behind my back.”

Brinkley and Cook (that’s them at left) have battled over custody of their children since it was revealed in 2006 that Cook, 49, had cheated on Brinkley with his then 18-year-old assistant, Diana Bianchi. Brinkley said on the stand on Thursday that she first learned of the affair from Bianchi’s father, when he told Brinkley about the affair at a high school commencement ceremony in Southhampton, Long Island, in 2006.

“My world was completely shattered,” she said on the stand, according to the New York Post.

On the first day of the divorce trial on Wednesday, Cook admitted to the affair in his testimony and to having been hooked on Internet pornography. It was revealed that Cook paid Bianchi $20,000 to type magazine articles onto his company’s Web site, and he once deposited cash for the teenager under a rock outside Brinkley’s mansion. In all, Cook gave Bianchi $300,000 to keep the affair quiet.

Brinkley’s lawyer claimed Cook spent $3,000 a month on pornographic Web sites.

Alexa Joel, 20, testified on Wednesday that Cook once punished her by shoving her head in a bucket of water, according to People magazine. “He would constantly be picking on her,” Brinkley said in comments quoted by People. “It got worse and worse over the years.” Under cross examination, Cook denied having put Alexa’s head into a bucket.

Brinkley’s marriage to Billy Joel, 59, whose hits include “Piano Man” and “Uptown Girl,” lasted from 1985 to 1994. As a model, Brinkley has appeared on more than 500 magazine covers.

Reese Witherspoon, Ryan Phillippe finalize divorce

Bob Tourtellotte — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 23:38:19 +0000

It’s all over between actors Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe, who finalized their divorce this week with court documents filed in Los Angeles.

People magazine reported online that documents filed on Thursday show the couple, who separated back in 2006, had reached an agreement on finances and custody of their two children, after seven years of marriage.

The Louisianna-born Witherspoon, 32, starred in the movies “Legally Blond” and “Rendition.” Witherspoon took tea in Tokyo this week at an event for breast cancer survivors, as she wore a kimono and chatted with her Japanese hosts.

Witherspoon is dabbling in producing and has reportedly been dating actor Jake Gyllenhaal, while Phillippe is with Australian actress Abbie Cornish. He recently starred in the war film “Stop-Loss.”

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis)

Watch stopped? Time to break up

Mike Collett-White — Wed, 07 May 2008 14:05:15 +0000

Decisions, decisions. In a bizarre admission, British socialite Jemima Khan has revealed how she decided once and for all to dump a boyfriend only when the watch he bought her stopped. In a recent article in Vogue magazine, the 34-year-old described her indecision as a “chronic affliction” that had got steadily worse over the last decade.

While no names were mentioned, the British press wasted little time in naming the jilted lover in this case as actor Hugh Grant, who the Daily Mail reported bought then-girlfriend Khan a 3,000-pound watch to match his own in 2004. The couple split in 2007.

“I’ve even found myself waiting for ‘a sign’,” Khan said in the article. “The watch given to me by a boyfriend when we first met packed up at the point at which the relationship had clearly run its course. I took it as the clear signal I needed that our time was finally up, though of course I’d known that for months.”

Would Khan and Grant still be an item had the time piece in question kept ticking?