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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2006 > July > 25
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Brinkley’s 4th bemoans his cheatin’ heart
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Christie Brinkley’s estranged husband has been silent about recent reports that he had an affair with an 18-year-old employee while married to the 52-year-old supermodel. Now his reportedly desperate apology is receiving a very public airing.
“This is an aberration,” Peter Cook, 47, said through a lawyer, according to a column by Cindy Adams in Tuesday’s New York Post. “I’m sorry. I’m contrite. I’m stupid. Foolish. No excuse.”
Adams wrote that Cook’s words were provided to her by his attorney, Norman Sheresky.
“I love my wife. … For a lifetime, I’ve tried to prove how much I love her,” Cook said, according to the article.
Sheresky said that Cook, the model’s fourth husband, is hoping for a reconciliation.
“He got involved, in over his head somehow, and he wants to make it up to her for the rest of his life,” said Sheresky, who also defended Cook as a “man who loves his wife and who loves his children.”
“This is not the way for people to have a discourse or a discussion about private matters,” Brinkley publicist Elliot Mintz told The Associated Press.
The couple’s separation exploded in scandal earlier this month when Diana Bianchi, now 19, claimed Cook had seduced her shortly after hiring her to work at his architecture firm.
The teenager’s lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, described the relationship as consensual, but claimed Cook’s role as employer and his gifts of a car, money and jewelry could possibly constitute sexual harassment.
Third Day in holiday spirit
Atlanta-based Christian rock band Third Day will release “Christmas Offerings,” the band’s first Christmas CD.
Slated for an October release, the songs include classics such as “Silent Night,” as well as four original songs.
“The ‘Offerings’ recordings are a special part of who we are as a band,” said Third Day bass player Tai Anderson in a press release. “We started the series for our fans — and we’ve wanted to do one reflecting the hope of Christmas for a while now.”
The Grammy winners have sold almost 6 million albums.
A definite maybe for Kimmel
Last week in Pasadena, Calif., Jimmy Kimmel lamented the continued absence of his late-night ABC show on the local Atlanta affiliate, WSB-TV. Atlanta is the largest market without Kimmel’s show, which airs at midnight in most cities. For three years, WSB-TV management has said it pulls in more money using reruns of “Entertainment Tonight” and the late news.
But new General Manager Bill Hoffman offered Buzz a ray of hope for Kimmel fans. One indicator: He helped get Kimmel onto Orlando TV before he came to Atlanta earlier this year. “I know ABC believes in the show in a strong way,” Hoffman said. “When I’m on the road, I watch the show, and I like it. We are still having conversations with ABC on a list of topics. This remains one of them.”
ABC likes Kimmel enough to give him a Sept. 13 prime-time special. “I love the show,” said ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPherson to critics in California last weekend. “But we have to get the word out some more and find different ways to do so. It’s been a little bit invisible.”
In Atlanta, make that totally invisible.
K-Fed to ‘Lose Control’ for teens
Britney Spears’ hubby has a new gig.
Kevin Federline will close the Teen Choice Awards, performing his single “Lose Control” for the first time on network television. The show airs Aug. 20 on Fox.
The 28-year-old, known to some as K-Fed, is expected to release his debut hip-hop album, “Playing With Fire,” in August.
Federline married Spears in September 2004. They have an infant son, and she is pregnant with their second child, due this fall.
A dad-size pain for Richie
Lionel Richie, father of size-zero Nicole Richie, says he’s hurt by media chatter about his daughter’s weight loss.
“I’ll be honest with you, it hurts me more than it hurts her,” the 57-year-old R&B singer tells “Access Hollywood” in an interview scheduled to air next Monday. “I must tell you, I’m the basket case.”
Nicole Richie, 24, co-stars with ex-friend Paris Hilton in the E! series “The Simple Life — ‘Til Death Do Us Part.” A new format allows the feuding friends to have nothing to do with each other.
In a recent interview in Vanity Fair magazine, Richie acknowledged she was “too thin right now” and was getting treatment to add pounds.
Celebrity birthdays
Actor James Best (“The Dukes of Hazzard”) is 80. Singer Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones is 63. Drummer Roger Taylor of Queen is 57. Actor Kevin Spacey is 47. Actress Sandra Bullock is 42. Actress Kate Beckinsale (“The Aviator,” “Pearl Harbor”) is 33.
Contributing: Rodney Ho and news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-5688 or e-mail buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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‘Survivor’ sent to federal prison
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Richard Hatch has been sent to a federal prison in Oklahoma as he serves a 51-month sentence for failing to pay taxes on the $1 million he won on the debut season of “Survivor.”
Hatch, 45, of Newport, R.I., arrived last week at the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City. It wasn’t immediately clear why Hatch was moved or whether he will serve out his prison sentence at the facility, which is a hub for prisoners transferring through the federal system.
Hatch had previously been held at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility in Massachusetts.
A federal jury convicted Hatch in January of failing to pay taxes on the “Survivor” prize and other income. He was sentenced in May to 51 months in prison by a judge who said the reality TV star had lied repeatedly on the witness stand.‘L & O’ meets Muppets
“Law & Order” creator Dick Wolf is often accused of taking himself and his venerable TV “brand” too seriously. So everyone at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, Calif., got a kick out of a clip he aired to introduce three actresses joining NBC’s various “L&O” shows this fall.
“Law & Order: Special Letters Unit” featured Muppets hunting down the most-wanted letter “M,” plus hilarious overuse of the shows’ famed “CHU-CHUNG!” musical trademark.
“I feel like a tobacco company executive, because hopefully we will hook 4- and 5- and 6-year-olds,” Wolf joked about “Special Letters Unit,” which will air on PBS’ “Sesame Street” on Aug. 14.
Then he sternly reeled off a series of statistics proving that the “Law & Order “brand” was stronger than ever — despite what many critics have written.
Playtime over.
CHU-CHUNG!He says it was a joke
U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.) says he was just playing along with the joke when comedian Stephen Colbert prodded him in an interview to say: “I enjoy cocaine because it’s a fun thing to do.”
The Democrat, unchallenged for re-election, appeared on Colbert’s Comedy Central show last week and was asked to say a few things that would “really lose the election for you if you were contested.”
Colbert asked the congressman to complete this sentence: “I enjoy cocaine because … “
A bemused Wexler looked into the camera and said, “I enjoy cocaine because it’s a fun thing to do.”
A follow-up in the complete-the-sentence questioning led to this comment: “I enjoy the company of prostitutes for the following reasons … because it’s a fun thing to do. If you combine the two together, it’s probably even more fun.”
Wexler told The Palm Beach Post after his interview aired last week that he had never seen the show before and only agreed to appear at the urging of his younger staffers.
Asked what his teenage children thought of his performance, he said: “They thought I was foolish.”
Monday, Wexler told The Associated Press he was fully aware of what was happening and had no regrets.
“I think it’s an important thing for members of Congress to be able to participate in a good-natured joke,” he said. “Everyone who watches the show knows that what is being said is a joke and that it’s about silly topics. I thought it was funny.”
Wexler isn’t the only one to be caught off guard by Colbert. When U.S. Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) appeared, Colbert asked whether it was difficult getting his rumored toupee through airport security. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who is gay, was asked what it’s like to be “an openly left-handed” American.
Bruce Lee film planned
Bruce Lee’s family plans to produce a film on the late martial arts star, the first such movie it has actively supervised, the Chinese company making the picture says.
The film, which will be made by the Lee family and the Beijing Jian Yongjia film company, will be based on an upcoming biography of the late actor by Lee’s brother, Lee Chun-fai, Beijing Jian Yongjia said in a statement Sunday.
“Bruce Lee died young, but stories about him haven’t stopped surfacing for 30 years. A lot of them were rumors fed by rumors and exaggerated. Bruce Lee’s family didn’t make its opinions known because they understood people’s passion about Bruce Lee,” the statement said.
“As the members of the Lee family enter old age, to let people know the true story about Bruce Lee, Lee Chun-fai assumed responsibility and carefully organized materials kept by the family, writing the biography ‘Bruce Lee,’ a real and little-known true story.”
The book will debut on Nov. 25.
Hong Kong native Lee died in 1973 at age 32 from swelling of the brain. He is known for portraying characters who defended the Chinese and working class from oppressors.Celebrity birthdays
Supermodel Iman is 51. Cartoonist Ray Billingsley (“Curtis”) is 49. Actor Matt LeBlanc (“Joey,” “Friends”) is 39.v
Contributing: Sonia Murray, Jill Vejnoska and news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-5688 or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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