Peter Cook, Christie Brinkley and their children on 2/4/05. Credit: Steve Sands/Bauergriffin
Peter Cook, Christie Brinkley’s disgraced ex husband, appears on an upcoming episode of 20/20 in which he’s interviewed by Barbara Walters. Walters showed clips of the show on The View this morning, and Cook pretty much comes across as the total creep you expect him to.
It came out during the public divorce proceedings this summer that Cook, 49, was spending thousands of dollars a month on online porn, was into webcam sex, and had an affair with an 18 year-old girl he hired to work in his architectural firm. When the affair went sour, Cook paid the girl $300,000 to keep quiet. Yet it was Brinkley, 54, who paid the bills for the household.
After all the dirt about Cook came up, the two reached a settlement, with Cook receiving $2.1 million and visitation rights to his two children, Sailor Lee, 10, and Jack, 13. Brinkley retained all 15 of her properties. Brinkley was the one who fought to make the divorce public and she received some criticism for that due to her children being exposed to the details of their father’s massive indiscretions. It was also her fourth failed marriage, as the other side so often pointed out. Despite all that she came across as a devoted mom with blinders on who only wanted the best for her children.
Cook told Barbara Walters in that interview to air Friday that it was his wife’s fault that he cheated, though, because she just didn’t give him the ego-stroking that he so desperately needed.
Cook told Walters why he started an affair with the young woman in 2005, when he had a great marriage in 2004.
“I was seeking a connection I could not find in my own marriage,” he said. “I think the emotional aspect of our lives had changed. I think we were both feeling more like we were living with a brother and sister than a life partner. … I think I just suddenly realized when I was getting attention from someone else that this is something that is missing in my life.”
When asked what he wanted, Cook said, “I wanted a little acknowledgement, a little attention, a little thank you every now and then for my efforts, for the amount of time I took to care for her and my family, for the wealth I was building. Just the tremendous amount of work I was putting into my family. … My world became her world. It had to be that way. … There came a time when I pulled up [to] the driveway to the home that I found, that I built, that I lived in, and I felt like I was a guest in someone else’s life.”
Cook said that he agreed to be interviewed to try to “correct some of the wrongs.”
“My hope is that the world will see that I’m not the scum bag pervert that I’ve been painted to be,” he said. “The misinformation that came out during the trial is the elephant in the room. It’s the elephant in the room for my kids. And I’m hoping maybe if I can correct some of the wrongs.”
[From Abcnews.com]
What an asshole this guy is. It’s the typical “my wife doesn’t pay attention to me” bullshit. Instead of getting some young ass, you’re supposed to work on your relationship by giving your wife some attention and romance. This guy was having an affair with a woman 30 years younger who worked for him. He has no excuse.
Here’s a link to the video from The View. The interview starts at about 1:57 in. There is some mildly funny banter ahead of it where the women talk about webcam mast*rbation. And here’s another clip on Abcnews.com.
Boo-freakin’-hoo. He’s a grown man, for cripes sakes. There are a lot better ways to let your wife know you need attention than screwing your 18-year-old assistant and spending thousands of bucks a month on porn.
He has never once owned up to what he did or taken any responsibility for it. That’s what the elephant in the room should be with his kids.
“My hope is that the world will see that I’m not the scum bag pervert that I’ve been painted to be,” he said
Dear Peter
Not everyone gets what they hope for.
Yours truly,
The World
I actually feel for him even though it was not an excuse to do what he did. There are women who do that sort of thing to men. She was the woman who obviously had the power/control in the relationship since she had the money/wealth, etc. If she was acting that way toward him, there was nothing he was going to be able to do to get her to act any different. He is portrayed as being ass? Yeah, he was wrong – he should have just left her (but probably was hard due to the financial dependency, etc). But why isn’t she portrayed as being a bitch?
That’s no reason to cheat. That’s an excuse for acting like a royal douchebag.
“I’m going to blame my wife for indiscretions which were the direct result of my own selfish actions.” Total cop-out.
Does he expect the world to believe that there was no alternative to not keeping his d*ck in his pants? What, was marriage counselling not an exciting enough option compared to the 18 year old tail you were chasing? Please.
His lame excuse is too little, too friggin’ late. I don’t see how anyone could possibly sympathize with this asshole.
Meh, he’s a pervert. But I still don’t care for Christie.
He just confirmed to the world what a selfish prick he is.
So if a wife doesn’t steady sex from her husband it’s a crime against humanity, but if the husband doesn’t get steady sex from the wife it’s a sacrament and he’s a selfish prick.
Curious. 😈
The guy is a sex addict. Most sex addicts are sociopaths and have no conscience about what they have done. He is in essence an monster without conscience or remorse…of course he will blame his wife. Sociopaths are never wrong or to blame for their actions, everyone else is. He will do the same thing to the next woman he is with.
Unbelievable… while we can’t kow the state of the marriage before this, he’s a total jerk and deserves to look like the scumbag pervert he is. Christie may not be blameless but I’m not crying a river for a guy who turns to an 18 year old and online porn and I suspect would still be doing it if he hadn’t been caught. If he was that unhappy – get out… but he didn’t want out of the marriage – way too lucrative.
Massengill called, they want Peter Cook to be their next spokesperson.
Like a dog skipping out on its owner.
You know I mighta had an ounce of sympathy for him if he’d pursued a woman of his own age and intellect–a companion and lover to fill the void. But he was fucking an 18 year old girl. That’s ego stroking, and taking advantage of the naive mentality of a young girl, period. That’s all it is. That’s why older men date younger women–being young doesn’t prerequisitely make you hotter, but it almost always means you’re stupider and completely unaware of how much you’re being used and how ridiculous you look, and how you’re basically a toy for him to show off so he feels like a big man. He is scum, pure and simple.
I don’t know about everyone else, but my husband spending hours and insane amounts of money on porn and a man in his 40’s having webcam sex sure would make me want to pay attention to him. Whatever. There are a lot of reasons why people cheat, doesn’t make a single one of them right.
Agree Kaiser, she’s not all that sympathetic a character, coming across as a high-maintenance control freak. But the mature way to fix the wrongs in your marriage is not to go and nail someone 30 years your junior. Clearly.
@Carrie, yep. Just because I think he’s a douche, doesn’t make me like her. Team Nobody.
OK, thanks to all of the great comments, I’m getting weird looks from co-workers… too funny!
Pathetic. There wasn’t any other way of getting her attention – like ASKING for it? Newsflash, asshole, LOTS of people who have been married for years live like brother and sister. It’s up to YOU to keep it alive.
I do agree that there seems to be a double standard regarding which partner is getting regular sex and how that is viewed. When men aren’t getting much, that’s tough titty, but when women aren’t getting any, he isn’t doing his job properly and she’s entitled or excused for looking elsewhere. I think it’s because men are generally the ones keeping the gene pool fresh….. I expressed that in kind of a Sarah Palin-style mangled way, but you guys get the drift…..
cowardly of him to blame his wife for his actions. sounds like he is a sex addict or something. in any case it is sad for their children.
He’s still a creepy SOB. Tell someone who cares,scumbag. Marriage is a give and take, and if I held my breath and demanded a thanks from my husband for every little thing I did for “us”, I’d be holding my breath for a long time.. I do think she’s a sleaze too for having the whole thing out in the open, at least think about the kids and the crap they’ll have to deal with in school.They’re both freaks and it comes across really loud and clear the second either one of them opens their mouth.
Look, nobody said anything about it being okay for women to cheat. Cheating is unacceptable regardless of whether the cheater has a penis or a vagina. If your needs aren’t being met, if you feel unappreciated, speak up or get out. Don’t invent an entire secret life and sneak around like some kind of psycho, and then blame it all on your spouse when you get caught. I don’t care what she did – his actions are inexcusable and it’s time he owned up to them, if for no other reason than to show his children how to behave like adults.
Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Don’t care for either of them. Keep them in the Hamptons!
Ya, he needs attention, medical attention. Quit blaming and take responsibility, you cyper sex freak, middle-aged Ken doll, too rich mfer!
omg the horror that is online porn. i personally dont think 18 is wrong she was considered an adult and most teenagers arent as naive and vulnerable as made out to be. it is possible for her to have had the same amount of competance as some middle aged women. it wasnt right what he did but when u cant see that u and ur partner are drifting dont be suprised when they stray.
a wife not giving her husband sex isnt a crime but as humans we need physicality and intimacy. u cant have functioning relationship without them.
clare: You took the words right out of my head. 🙂
Hmm, Orangejulius, double standard about sex the way you put it is kind of mindblowing. If you read the research, guess who climaxes more often during sex and guess why? You trying to tell us the standards of who gets what are harder for MEN????!!! I am not so PC I would claim the hormones aren’t different, I do think men get horny more often. I think if women are happy with their partner in other ways, they get horny.
I also think sex is all about communication, and yeah, these two weren’t talkin’ much….
The guy cheated because he wanted to cheat. The excuses are lame. I think the guy was probably going through some kind of panic about getting older and might be a sex addict, possibly even a narcissist, since nothing is ever “their” fault. She might be a narcissist too. The truth is the kids are the ones who are going to suffer the most, but also what about the assistant? The assistant knew he was married, and she had no business sleeping with a married man, if she had any dignity at all, she would have just said no.
Whether he is a scum or not, it seems a lot of the judgmental posts here come from women.
Just as there is a double standard (still!) surrounding sex which works in favor of males, there is also a double standard surrounding marriage which works in favor of women. Which gender is it that always uses the term “work on the relationship”? It ain’t the guys.
To all you women who make hater comments: It ain’t all that easy dealing with you. Ask any man, even a man in a good marriage, and he will tell you how much hassle and work a relationship is. If it is a good marriage, he most definitely is constantly “working” at it. If he’s got a job, his whole life is pretty much “work”. I think that gets to a lot of middle-aged men. They think, “wait a minute! Other than security, what am I getting out of all of this?”
And just as old men parade around with young arm candy to prove they still have it, many women brag about or show off their “perfect” marriage and show off their “perfect” husband. No care is given to the actual eye candy or perfect husband, it’s all about ego. I’m sure that entered into Christie’s marriage. Sheesh
I am sure being with Christie is a lot of work. That’s why it’s been four marriages for her…
One last thing: I notice the female hater/judgers her say nothing about the women who make porn, or the women who are in the affair with the “scum bag”. As long as you are judging males, own up to the female half of the bargain as well.
Or shut up.
If it’s such a hassle to be married, scummy male (boy, is that a correct name), then don’t do it. Last time I checked, nobody gets forced into marriage, and if you aren’t a complete dumbass you know what you’re getting into beforehand. If it’s so hard for a man to endure the hardships of committing to one woman, then get out– and for cripes sake, be an adult about it. There’s no excuse for the lying, deceitful behavior he exhibited. The blame for that falls squarely on him. Sounds to me like you want to blame everyone else except the guy who did the cheating. He wanted to have it both ways – he wanted the money, security and fame that came with being Mr. Christie Brinkley, but he still wanted the freedom that comes with being a bachelor. If you think that’s okay, I hope you aren’t married- and if so, I feel sorry for your wife.
And you can shut up yourself.
“If it is a good marriage, he most definitely is constantly “working” at it. If he’s got a job, his whole life is pretty much “work”. I think that gets to a lot of middle-aged men. They think, “wait a minute! Other than security, what am I getting out of all of this?”
Women have jobs too. And when they come home they have to “work” at their relationship just as hard as men.
There is no such thing as a relationship that doesn’t require work, for either party.
Other than security, you are getting love, which is worth it despite all the work. And if you don’t agree that it’s worth it, then please go and die alone.
Scummy, damn, chile, you are really stuck in some small world of your own. Guess what – other people have polar opposite experiences than what you just laid down so broadly. Sheeze. Don’t even date. Porn was made for lovely gentlemen just like you.
I’m still laughing at WTF. Massengil poster boy! HAHAHAHAHA! lol 😆
I was the child of a divorce where my mother hated my father and her perceptions were pushed on me. Children want and “need” to have permission to love their parents. Especially boys need permission to love their fathers. The reason: children are a combination of both parents. To make one of their parents a monster is to make part of themselves a “suspect monster.” That is more abusive than anything someone might do in privacy due to their personal flaw. That should not be made public for the good of the children.
I appreciate Peter Cook’s courage in sharing his story. I believe it will help many to understand that hatred. unforgiveness and estrangement is never good for children of divorce … no matter how upset a parent may be at the other. Christie is the abuser here.
Christie, for the love of all things holy, PLEASE let us see that sex tape, we have been wanting to see you naked since your modeling days. When your excersise machine infomercial is on, every guy in america could care less that youre selling that peice of shit, we are only looking at your crotch in those tight black stretchpants. Hoping that we could for at least one second, be your cotton crotch panel in your underwear. Ms. Brinkley, how can you sit there for 30 years teasing us? Let us see you in your most intimate moment, vulnerable, and allow us to see how you act when you’re cumming. Thats all a guy thinks about when we see a girl on the street as we inspect your crotch and ass walking by. We want to see if you grind back when you’re on bottom, and if your legs quiver when youre ejaculating. Is it shaved, or do you have a neatly trimmed bush? Is it blonde? Is it tight? Do you have exposed labia majoris, or is it like a 15 year olds? Does it smell good? Well, that doesnt really matter cause we cant smell it on a video, sorry, I just was on a tangent. Keep in mind, this sex tape will ultimately be sold, why not you profit off it instead of that cocksucker that was lucky enough to bury his face in your pie? Please let us see you taking his load. We would really appreciate it. Thanks in advance for your cooperation.
It’s clear he cheated with the 19 yo because she wanted to, and made it easy for him. Doubt he would have picked her otherwise, given the age’s of the women he has dated since he split with that eternal victim frost queeen wife of his.