Did Peter ‘Cook’ Books? | Is David Blaine Next for Madonna?; Shakira, Nickelback Deals; 'Dark Knight’ Sees Daylight

Did Peter ‘Cook’ Books?

Of all the crazy and terrible things that were revealed about Peter Cook yesterday on the stand in his divorce trial, here’s something worse than internet porn, adultery, and physical cruelty: he could be in hot hot water with the Internal Revenue Service.

Cook revealed on the stand in Islip, Long Island that he gave his 18 year old girlfriend $15,000 to buy a new car. That’s cash fifteen thousand dollars, not to mention maybe thousands more in cash as little gifts that he left for her under rocks in a garden or taped to the back of picture frames.

Now sources in the Hamptons are buzzing that Cook’s cash gifts — which exceed IRS rules anyway — are just the tip of the iceberg. They say as an architect he may have also been dabbling as an unlicensed realtor, doing all kinds of deals.

“Everything he did was in cash,” says a source. “He was famous for it.”

The word now is that Hamptons building contractors who did business with Cook may come under some kind of scrutiny — particularly since Cook’s dealing in large cash amounts has now been tied to the 18 year old girl, Diana Bianchi.

Of course, Cook may not have much of a business left once this grotesque trial is over. As anyone with hearing and/or eyesight by now knows, Cook has admitted on the stand, for his parents and children to witness, his “grooming” of Bianchi staring at age 16 to be his lover, who he then had sex with his in his home; his many disgusting sexual adventures on the internet, including using his ten year old step son’s computer to create the raunchy liaisons.

Who would do business with him after this? That’s one question. But another is: why has he let this trial go so far? Why didn’t he just settle out of court with Brinkley on financial and custody matters? He surely must have realized all of his horrifying behavior would come out.

The answer? Says one former friend: “He doesn’t care. He’s loving the attention, the media. He thinks he’s a star now.”

If so, he’s a lonely star. Cook had no friends or family with him at court yesterday. Daughter Sailor, 8, is away at summer camp, very carefully being shielded from this tragedy. Step son Jack, who’s 13, however, is home in the Hamptons. It’s likely both kids will eventually find out about the extent of Cook’s deviance.

“He’s like the Nicole Kidman character in To Die For,” said one insider. “After she killed her husband, she was still parading around for the media.”

I’m also told we should heavily discount reports that Cook “sobbed” on the stand yesterday as he listed his various social atrocities. “He was incredibly cavalier,” reports a source. “He looked around after his testimony to see who was watching him.”

One thing’s for sure: he’d better hope there are no IRS agents paying attention to all this. The $15,000 in cash to Bianchi for the car — because her parents had taken away hers as punishment for seeing a married older man — is just the kind of thing that could get them asking all kinds of questions such as “Where did he get it from?”

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