Everett Collection / Shutterstock.com
20. Peter Cook
In 2008, supermodel Christie Brinkley’s husband of 12 years Peter Cook admitted to cheating on her with his 18-year-old assistant Diana Bianchi after the teen’s stepfather told Brinkley about the affair. Moreover, Cook gave his young mistress $300,000 to protect himself from scandal, and had spent thousands of dollars each month on Internet pornography.
In addition to setting off tabloid frenzy, Cook’s affair also ended their marriage. Brinkley granted her fourth husband $2.1 million in exchange for custody of their two children and the retention of 18 disputed properties in the Hamptons. However, that was not the end of their public war.
Brinkley continued talking about his affair and their miserable divorce, and Cook was obviously not pleased with the situation. Instead of apologizing, the famous architect blamed her for everything. Here’s an excerpt from a public letter he wrote to his ex-wife in 2014:
“She disposed of 10 good years of marriage because of my indiscretion and has had to vilify me ever since to excuse her own petty and self-indulgent behavior — throwing our children under the bus, relentlessly vilifying their father and surrendering our lives to the media — essentially capitalizing on my pain and by default our children’s pain; all masked behind a fixed disingenuous smile.’’