Polo-playing playboy Bruce Colley met lover Kerry Kennedy Cuomo through the charitable work of his wife Ann, who heads the philanthropic efforts of millionaire money manager Louis Bacon, friends of the couples said.
Ann Colley first got to know Kerry’s brother, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., through her support of his Riverkeeper project, a charity to help preserve the Hudson River, they said. She sits on Riverkeeper’s board.
It was that link that led Kerry and her husband, Andrew Cuomo, to Bacon’s private island off the Hamptons, where the power couple mingled with Bruce and Ann, friends of the Colleys said. Bacon, who runs Moore Capital and oversees billions in assets, throws lavish parties.
Cuomo and his wife were both charmed by Bruce Colley, and the two couples became fast friends. They attended functions at Man Ray, the swanky Manhattan restaurant Colley owns, and went on vacations together.
It’s unclear exactly when the affair began, but Andrew and Ann became suspicious sometime this spring about the amount of time Bruce and Kerry were spending together on their own.
One friend to whom Bruce Colley eventually admitted the affair suspected that the two lovers were meeting secretly in London, where Colley has been traveling recently to help launch the British version of Man Ray.
Other friends have said that the lovers hooked up at a mutual friend’s apartment in Manhattan.
About three months ago, Andrew and Ann agreed to confront their respective spouses about the suspected affair, according to one of Colley’s close friend.
Bruce first denied it, then confessed, the friend said. Kerry also admitted it.
Later, Andrew called Bruce and demanded that he stay away from the three Cuomo kids, prompting Bruce to threaten a lawsuit, friends of the couples said.
But friends of both Kerry and Andrew said their marriage had been rocky for a few years, beginning when the couple lived in Washington, where Cuomo was secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
Still, Kerry stood by Andrew through his failed 2002 gubernatorial run. But back in New York, she became “smitten” with Colley, another friend of hers said.
“He’s a magnet. He’s hard to resist,” said the friend. Colley had a reputation as a ladies’ man before he married Ann, said a friend of Colley’s. “Bruce needs a slap on the face sometimes – for someone to step up and say, ‘You’ve got to stop this.’ “
Michael Kennedy, Bruce Colley’s attorney, did not comment.