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Monday July 31, 2006

Christie Brinkley's daughter tells of her mother's pain

By Rich Schapiro, Jo Piazza and Nancy Dillon

NEW YORK - Christie Brinkley's songbird daughter, Alexa Ray Joel, says her mom's public betrayal may put the supermodel off marriage for good, according to a published report.

A file photo showing Alexa Ray Joel (left) and her father, Billy Joel, at the 57th Annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on June 8, 2003, in New York. - AP Photo/Tina Fineberg

"I don't think my mom will be getting married again anytime soon," Joel told a friend recently, according to Star magazine. "It's going to take her a long time to get over this. As for trusting someone enough to marry again - I don't know."

Joel, 20, is Brinkley's daughter with piano man Billy Joel and a budding singer in her own right. Brinkley also has an 11-year-old son, Jack, with third husband Richard Taubman and 7-year-old daughter Sailor Lee with current hubby Peter Cook.

Brinkley, 52, recently fled the Hamptons with the two little ones in tow after Cook's infatuation and months-long affair with 19-year-old assistant Diana Bianchi.

"She has her kids, and apart from the divorce, she's happy about where she is in her life right now," Star reports Alexa Ray Joel as saying. "Thank God Sailor is too young to really understand what's going on. She doesn't know what her dad did or why everyone is mad at him."

Cook, 47, issued a ham-handed apology through his attorney earlier this week and had kept a low profile in Southampton, Long Island, where he runs an architecture firm.

Sources said he and Brinkley were invited to three major Hamptons parties this weekend, but have sent their regrets to each.

While the power couple religiously attended the events in the past, they're expected no-shows tonight at the VH1 Save the Music's fourth annual Hamptons benefit in East Hampton and tomorrow at Bridgehampton's Mercedes-Benz Polo Challenge and at the star-studded garage sale called Super Saturday.

Brinkley's spokesman did not return a call seeking comment, but a family source earlier told the New York Daily News that the former Cosmo Girl is keeping mum so as not to jeopardize her prenuptial agreement.

Star magazine also reported that Brinkley insisted everyone in Cook's architecture firm sign a nondisclosure agreement, barring them from speaking out about their philandering boss or his world-famous wife.