Christie Brinkley's Ex-Husband's Infidelity Confession

by Courtney Mroch | More from this Blogger

11 Oct 2008 12:33 PM

The Barbara Walters interview with Peter Cook, Christie Brinkley's ex-husband, has stirred up all sorts of controversy between the couple (she filed an order with the court to make sure he doesn't let their children see it when they're in his custody), but it's also riled the public. The controversy is similar to the one that brewed during Oprah's "Why Men Cheat" series.

Cook's Confession

Cook claims Brinkley's lack of attention drove him into the arms of his 17-year-old lover.

I can understand why he strayed. I believe lack of attention is a factor in why men stray. But I can't understand who he strayed with. Even I have to question what he, a fortysomething-year-old man, thought he'd find fulfilling in a relationship with a teenager apart from sex. (Which is why he was labeled a pervert, something he balked at and which led him to do the Barbara Walters interview. He wanted a chance to tell his side of the story.)

He did the whole "I'm sorry" thing, admitted he was wrong and that he shouldn't have done it. But he also defended himself. He said it wasn't that he was being a pervert. He did it because, as he told Walters, he "felt like [he] was a guest in someone else's life."

It's Not All His Fault

I caught the tail-end of a cable news show (I'm not sure if it was on Fox, MSBNC, or another channel, though) where they were discussing this. The women guest experts took exception to his defense arguments. They claimed it was a classic case of a person in the wrong trying to make the victim take the blame instead of shouldering it themselves.

I disagree.

As M. Gary Neuman, the marriage expert Oprah had on her show said, "We get married because we want one person in the world to really think we're wonderful for doing all the things that we do."

Neuman hypothesized that the other woman often makes the man feel better about himself. "[She] makes them feel different. Makes them feel appreciated, admired. Men look strong, look powerful and capable. But on the inside, they're insecure like everybody else. They're searching and looking for somebody to build them up to make them feel valued."

Bingo!

Not that he didn't do Brinkley wrong. Cheating is bad. However, she probably didn't do him wholly right either.

Why am I not sympathizing with her, the purported "victim?" Because that was her fourth marriage, his first. If her marriage had meant enough to her, she would have found a way to work through his infidelity. Better yet, she would have known how to keep it from happening in the first place.

Like Looking for a Drink in the Desert

I like to think of men straying from lack of attention as a man and wife walking through the desert. The wife's carrying the water. The man's thirsty. He asks his wife for a drink. Because she's so focused on getting them to their destination and not wanting to stop, she refuses. Or maybe she just gives him the smallest of sips to whet his whistle.

They keep walking. He keeps asking for water. She keeps refusing. Eventually they cross paths with another woman carrying water. Thirsty, the man asks the other woman for water. She obliges. The wife finds out and gets furious.

I don't know what Cook's excuse is for picking a teenager though. Maybe he was so thirsty and his judgment so impaired that he leapt at the first water-bearing female to come along.

Which is sad and a testament to his responsibility for his failed marriage too.

Courtney Mroch also writes in Pets and Marriage. For a full listing of her articles click here.

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Courtney Mroch is a wife, a proud pet parent, and a writer. She's been with her husband, high school sweetheart Wayne Pryor, over 20 years, married 11 of those. She's "mom" to Mr. Meow, a.k.

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Michele Cheplic (37339) 11 Oct 2008 01:40 PM

I think the pervert label came from Cook's porn habit (along with his affair with a girl that he could have technically fathered). The fact that he used his son's computer and his screen name to rack up tens of thousands of dollars on porn sites and to sit on his son's desk and pleasure himself while being aroused by strangers is pretty sick regardless of whether your spouse is emotionally absent. I totally get where you are coming from Courtney, but the fact is Cook has a mouth. He should have used his mouth to voice his feelings of discontent with his wife (he says he did, she denies it) rather than using it to kiss a girl who was still in high school. IMO.

Starrlight (5255) 11 Oct 2008 05:12 PM

I can't believe he is still allowed to see his kids. I mean sex with a minor? Isn't that a felony or something?

Courtney Mroch (9169) 12 Oct 2008 05:30 PM

Okay, I have to admit I heard about the porn stuff but I didn't know he'd racked up such a bill or used his son's screen name. Midlife crisis motivated? I don't know, but it is kind of bad. I didn't know that part of it all. I did know he spent like $300,000 on the 17 year old. Which I DO think is gross. (For lack of a more eloquent word.) And I was wondering why he wasn't charged with statutory rape too, Starrlight.

All of this would be embarrassing enough for friends and family to find out, but in front of the national media? I mean, it's great for me. Gives me something to write about, but I have been thinking about this more and it is really bad behavior. 'Cause you're right Michele...he should have used his mouth to speak up (yell and scream until he was heard really).

Thanks for the comments and opinions, girls.

Michele Cheplic (37339) 12 Oct 2008 08:35 PM

Cook is a media hog and frankly Barbara Walters and crew at 20/20 should be held responsible for their role in supporting his narcissistic behavior. BTW, he was deemed a narcissist by the court psych and the only reason he didn't end up in jail for his affair with the high schooler is b/c in New York (and many other states) you are not considered a minor unless you are under 16. She was 17 when the affair started so technically she was considered an adult in a consensual relationship with a pervert.

Courtney Mroch (9169) 13 Oct 2008 06:48 AM

Thanks for all that info, Michele! Bad on me for not doing more thorough research before writing this piece. Lesson learned. I stand corrected. (And your last line made me laugh out loud and scare the cat! Classic Michele wittiness.)

Valorie Delp (49340) 13 Oct 2008 08:49 AM

I was laughing at that last line too! Courtney I think you're right in that it does take two to break down a relationship. . .but I always wonder what makes women (like Brinkley) shack up with bad news men like Cook in the first place. Sad. . .just sad.

Courtney Mroch (9169) 13 Oct 2008 09:18 AM

Yep, I think "sad" is hitting the proverbial nail on the head. Good sum up, Valorie!