Her lawyers supposedly broke a confidentiality pact, and now the Long Island teen beauty who had a steamy affair with philanderer Peter Cook can forget about the last third of her $300,000 settlement, The Post has learned.
The move comes in the wake of The Post’s revelation of sex tapes of Cook – supermodel Christie Brinkley’s ex-hubby – with his former lover Diana Bianchi, and a public flogging of Cook following his TV interview with Barbara Walters.
One of Bianchi’s lawyers, Joe Tacopina, said last week he was considering pushing the Suffolk County DA to charge Cook with unlawful surveillance, asserting sex tapes starring Cook and Bianchi were made without her knowledge.
But in a letter dated Oct. 20, Cook’s lawyer, Kathleen McKenna, asserts the $300,000 settlement with Bianchi in 2007 – which she signed – clearly addresses the sex tapes and protects Cook from any criminal charges relating to them.
Tacopina’s threats of prosecution, therefore, violate terms of the deal, McKenna maintains.
“The existence of the tapes and the circumstances surrounding their making were addressed in Ms. Bianchi’s draft,” the letter reads.
The missive brusquely informs Tacopina and partner Rosemarie Arnold that Cook will stop his bimonthly payments of $10,000 to Bianchi because of the alleged breach.
McKenna also slams Arnold for calling Cook a “wolf” after his interview with Walters on ABC’s “20/20” earlier this month. The 2007 settlement, McKenna notes, prohibits Bianchi and her representatives from publicly disparaging Cook.
Cook struck the deal with Bianchi after their affair destroyed his marriage to supermodel Brinkley.
Tacopina would not comment on any correspondence between his office and Cook’s lawyers, or specific terms of the 2007 agreement because of confidentiality concerns.
But the high-powered attorney blasted Cook for blaming others for his own egregious behavior.
“For him to blame everyone but himself is typical of Mr. Cook,” he said. “He made that tape illegally. This is the risk he took.”
Tacopina said he would fight any attempt to stop payments to Bianchi. “I will ferociously protect my client,” he said.
The Post has learned the two legal teams sent several letters over Cook’s payments to Bianchi last week.
McKenna told Tacopina and Arnold that Bianchi could keep the money she has already been paid, but that she shouldn’t expect another red cent.
Cook agreed to pay Bianchi a total of $300,000, sources said. An initial sum of $150,000 was paid upfront, after which Cook paid $10,000 in five installments.
He’s due to fork over another five installments of $10,000 before a final payment of $50,000.
The settlement of Cook’s grisly divorce trial with Brinkley in July has done little to end the fallout from the explosive 2006 scandal.
Brinkley’s lawyers will head to court Wednesday and argue that Cook breached their settlement with the Walters interview by disparaging her and exposing details of their marriage.
Cook attempted to repair his reputation with the sit-down, saying Brinkley was an inattentive, cold wife whose distant attitude drove him to stray.