• Most Popular
  • Most Shared
Beyonce performs "Single Ladies"  at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards in New York, September 13, 2009.     REUTERS/Gary Hershorn

Pictures of the year: Entertainment

A look at the year's best entertainment photos.   Slideshow 

    Christie Brinkley settles divorce case

    NEW YORK
    Thu Jul 10, 2008 6:52pm EDT

    NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former supermodel Christie Brinkley's sensational divorce to her fourth husband ended abruptly on Thursday with a settlement, a spokeswoman for Brinkley said.

    Entertainment  |  People

    "After five days of trial and for the sake of their children, Christie Brinkley and Peter Cook have reached an agreement," spokeswoman Amy Jacobs said in a statement.

    Cook revealed during testimony he had an affair with his 18-year-old assistant and spent $3,000 a month on Internet pornography. Brinkley, who asked for full custody of the couple's two children, said that her "perfect life" had been shattered by the revelations.

    The settlement was reached at 6:15 a.m. after all-night negotiations, Jacobs said.

    "I didn't want this trial. It's humiliating for all of us," Brinkley had said on the witness stand in New York family court in Central Islip, Long Island.

    The agreement awarded Brinkley, 54, full custody of the children, aged 10 and 13, and gave Cook, 49, a financial settlement of $2.1 million as well as "parenting time."

    Brinkley will retain all of the couple's properties, including 18 in the Hamptons, which were at dispute because Cook had advised the former Sports Illustrated swimsuit model to buy them during their 10-year marriage.

    The couple had spent the opening five days of trial trading allegations about whether Cook was a fit parent.

    Cook responded by suggesting that Brinkley, who requested that the press be given access to the trial, was out to shame her husband publicly and had bad-mouthed him to their children.

    The relationship ended when Cook began an affair with his assistant, Diana Bianchi, whom Cook said he paid $300,000 not to go to the media.

    Brinkley testified she learned about the affair when Bianchi's stepfather approached her at a high school graduation ceremony where Brinkley had delivered a commencement speech.

    Brinkley was previously married to artist Jean-Francois Allaux, pop singer Billy Joel and Richard Taubman.

    (Editing by Daniel Trotta)



    More from Reuters

    Photo

    Time Warner Cable, Fox at impasse; blackout looms

    NEW YORK (Reuters) - About 13 million Time Warner Cable Inc subscribers were to lose most Fox programing at midnight on Thursday unless the cable service provider reached a last-minute deal to pay fees to News Corp to broadcast the shows.

    A customer is served at a counter inside a foreign exchange store displaying a poster of various banknotes including the Chinese yuan or renminbi (RMB) in Hong Kong November 20, 2009. REUTERS/Bobby Yip
    OUTLOOK 2010:

    Be careful what you wish for

    Pressure on China to loosen its grip on the yuan will continue but the U.S. should tread carefully. Here are five world market issues to watch.  Full Article 

    Clients work out on machines at the Bally Total Fitness facility in Arvada, Colorado June 15, 2009.  REUTERS/Rick Wilking

    Get real with resolutions

    We make them and we break them: The secret to keeping them is to avoid the impossible dream.  Full Article