Celebrity Divorce Again

Celebrity divorces define the culture of divorce. After a horrendous trial, the Christie Brinkley case settled. According to the July 10, 2008 Daily News story by Christina Boyle and Tracy Connor. "Brinkley got the kids, the property and the satisfaction of having exposed her cheating husband as a skirt-chasing egomaniac. Cook got $2.1 million, most of which will end up in his lawyers' pockets. He lost his Sweet Freedom, the little fishing boat Brinkley gave him on his 40th birthday. So ended one of New York's nastiest divorce battles - a Hamptons soap opera that featured sex, lies and Web cam video. After 12 years of marriage, eight days of testimony and one very long night of negotiations, the supermodel and the architect finally agreed on how to part ways. Both claimed victory, but Brinkley was the one beaming - and flashing the V for victory sign - outside the courthouse in Central Islip, L.I., after the deal was announced. ‘I have won custody and decision-making, and that's all I ever wanted,’ Brinkley said before going home. The 54-year-old cover girl said she was ‘pleased’ with the outcome, but she also called it ‘very bittersweet.’ ‘It really is the death of a marriage, but it's also, I think, a new start for all of us.’ Cook, 49, was brusque.
‘I've got everything I've been asking for two years,’ he said, even though he had petitioned the court for joint custody. The pact gives Brinkley sole legal custody and decision-making power over 13-year-old Jack and 10-year-old Sailor Lee. It is believed Cook is keeping his current visitation rights - every other weekend and one school night a week with extra time in the summer. He ceded his claim to 18 properties Brinkley bought with her millions during their marriage and he has to give up the boat where he spent the Fourth of July with gal pal Suzanne Shaw and son Jack. The vessel will be sold, and the couple will split the proceeds." See the entire article at http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2008/07/10/2008-07-10_christie_brinkley_peter_cook_divorce_end.html

The A-Rod divorce is next. See article in New York post at http://www.nypost.com/seven/07072008/news/nationalnews/a_rods_wife_hurls_splitter_118824.htm
where you can even view the court papers!

I wonder after reading this why the case could not have been settled earlier. Unfortunately these cases are fueled by anger. Wouldn’t it have been better for the children. Mediation would have allowed confidentiality. How many couples will fight in their divorce case because of reading about this case. One of the more telling comment may have been, "Cook got $2.1 million, most of which will end up in his lawyers' pockets."

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