Christie Brinkley, Ex Still Duking it Out Publicly, Years After Divorce

Former Mrs. Billy Joel Christie Brinkley has still not entirely moved past her divorce from subsequent ex Peter Cook, and the supermodel broke down this morning on television while interviewing with Matt Lauer.

Brinkley and Cook are perhaps a near-perfect example of why it’s best to save your tears and harsh words for non-public spaces, particularly in this era of social media permanence. I can’t think of one thing I’ve heard about Brinkley or Cook in the past decade that’s not about them loudly slinging insults at one another in the public square, and it would seem both are a bit fixated on whatever horrible thing it was that went down during their marriage.

In fact, even Kathie Lee Gifford- who commented later on the interview- said that she understood what it was like to be “in the bubble [of gossiped-about marriages] …but for goodness sake, the best thing you can do is keep your mouth shut.” Brinkley has been accusing her ex of shorting their kids on child support, and when talking to Lauer, she said:

“I just want peace for my family… And every time I have any joy or any kind of success in anything, he has to try to destroy it… Since the day that he realized that I wasn’t coming back, there has been a real character assassination going on.”

So did Cook let it drop there? Of course not. He released an angry statement to the media directly afterwards, accusing Brinkley of trying to drum up interest in the divorce again to draw attention to her role in the musical Chicago. In the statement, Cook says:

“Christie was entirely dishonest about the circumstances surrounding the current court action which was precipitated by her… I am also shocked by the blatant lies she told regarding our divorce proceedings of four years ago, including denying the indisputable fact that she fought for an open courtroom despite the warnings it would harm our children.”

Cook alleges that Brinkley “does not want peace, she wants attention,” and he cites his infidelity and lingering jealousy as the reason (aside from attention, we suppose) that Brinkley has revived the matter:

“Clearly, Christie does not believe I was punished enough four years ago for my indiscretions in our marriage, but for the sake of our children I wish she would find a way to move on.”

Christie Brinkley and Peter Cook were formally divorced in 2008, and separated in 2006.