Christie Brinkley opened up about her tumultuous love life in her new memoir, and a source tells us exclusively Closer It was a liberating and cathartic experience to finally tell her the truth and let go of the fear and resentment she had carried for many years.
“Her book was very well received not only by fans but also by the people in her life. She had no resistance from Billy, they are still good friends, so of course she let him read it in advance,” the source says of Christie’s ex-husband Billy Joel.
“He gave her the green light to tell her story. It’s a mystery to him and he’s man enough to admit how badly he messed up. Christie has been very fair to him and everyone she writes about,” the insider continues.
Christie, 71, and Billy, 76, married in March 1985 and divorced in August 1994. The duo has a daughter together Alexa Ray Joel39.
The memoir also reflects on the supermodel’s fourth marriage to an architect Peter Cook. The couple married in September 1996 and divorced in October 2008 after Christie learned he was allegedly having an affair with an 18-year-old woman.
“Her mantra during the writing process was that she wanted total honesty. She didn’t sugarcoat anything, so putting everything out there was pretty scary, but also very cathartic. Now everything has come to light, including her feelings towards Peter and how terribly he treated her,” the source explains.
“The moment she found out during a school speech that he was cheating on a girl in high school will be etched in her mind forever. It felt good to be able to get it all out on the page. Of course Peter will have hated it, but she doesn’t care. It’s the truth and she doesn’t care if he thinks she’s being vengeful, she has the right to tell her story,” the insider notes.
Not only that Christie and Peter, 65, have a daughter together sailor26, he also adopted the entrepreneur’s son, Jack Brinkley Cook30, from Christie’s short-lived marriage in 1994 with Ricky Taubman.
Christie Brinkley, Peter Cook and children Jack and Sailor
In Uptown girlIn her post, the Michigan native wrote about being approached by a man she had never met while giving a commencement speech at a local high school in the Hamptons in 2006.
“Sorry,” Christie wrote. “I have to tell you that your arrogant husband had an affair with my teenage daughter.”
“I was so stunned I froze,” Christie continued, saying she then looked out into the audience and saw Peter sitting with Jack. “As soon as I saw him, Peter’s eyes were already on my face as he started shaking his head, ‘No’.”
“When your whole world comes crashing down and you immediately realize that you have suddenly become the stereotypical middle-aged woman whose husband is having an affair with a much (much) younger woman, what do you do?” she asked in the book.
“I often wondered if I would ever recover,” Christie told readers, saying her children gave her the strength to get through the pain. “Whenever I felt this, I would stop, look within, and count my blessings, a long list that always started with Alexa Ray, Jack, and Sailor.”