Peter Cook made an apology through his attorney to Christie Brinkley on Monday. In a statement Cook said: "I love my wife. I have loved her since the day I met her."
 |
| Christie Brinkley May Not Be Ready to Forgive |
"Please … I love her," Cook told New York Post columnist Cindy Adams via his lawyer, Norman Sheresky. "For a lifetime, I've tried to prove how much I love her. This is an aberration. I'm sorry. I'm contrite. I'm stupid. Foolish. No excuse."
Brinkley has chosen not to respond publicly.
But the NY Daily News' columnist Nancy Dillon cites a family source that says the apology is likely to fall on deaf ears. "She's still very hurt, very shocked. He carried on a two-year affair," a family member said yesterday, laughing at the suggestion Brinkley will reconcile.
***
"She has to be careful because they did a prenuptial agreement. She can't say anything bad because the prenup will be broken," the relative said. "It's not in her personality to say anything bad anyway."
The family member, who asked not to be named, said it would be one thing if Cook, 47, was guilty of a meaningless one-night stand. But his philandering was a prolonged and devious relationship with a teenage assistant named Diana Bianchi.
"You think when there are kids involved, maybe you can find forgiveness. But this girl [Bianchi] was on TV saying all this stuff about Peter pursuing her. It's really hurtful," the family source said.
"I can't say for sure what [Brinkley will] do next. But whatever it is, the family will totally support her," the relative said. "I think she'll find love again. Everything is possible. She's very strong."
***
Jill Atkins said basically the same thing on Monday when she wrote, "Contrition is good, but this was reportedly (according to Bianchi) a year long affair."
Though she likely didn't watch - having Diana Bianchi making the rounds on TV and in print and spilling the whole affair publicly couldn't have helped.
Earlier in People Magazine it had been reported that she was devastated. "She is totally shocked and just devastated," a close friend of Brinkley's told People of Cook's yearlong relationship with now 19-year-old Diana Bianchi. "She has been extremely concerned about the impact of this situation on her children and felt it was very important to protect them and take them away for a little bit."
Add to that Brinkley so far has not commented about the separation, and on Tuesday her publicist, Elliot Mintz, told the Associated Press that he didn't think she would ask him to issue a response. "This is not the way for people to have a discourse or a discussion about private matters," he said.
***
This would be a nightmare for anyone; it's certainly a shame for Christie Brinkley. None will be surprised if the relative cited in the Daily News is right and the apology is not accepted.
--Lynda Johnson
FEEDS: News | Pop Culture | Ledger Pop | Ledger DC
