Brinkley, Cook Drama Ends... For Now
Christie Brinkley arrived at divorce court this morning flashing a megawatt smile after settling her dispute with her now fourth ex Peter Cook. Asked whether this was her "independence day," the supermodel said, "Yes. I Hope so."
What NOONE'S mentioned, however, is this little unresolved matter of Errol Sawyer, the African American photographer who discovered Christie Brinkley in Paris back in 1973.
The son of Black playwright Robert Earl Sawyer, Errol introduced Christie to model agent John Casablancas of Elite Model Management with whom he collaborated on portfolio development of prospective models.
Initially hesitate, John had confidence in Errol's taste and agreed to send Christie on several "Go and Sees" the next day, and, as they say, "The rest is history."
Contrary to Mr. Casablancas’s description: “Errol Sawyer was a scout on our payroll.” Except for a small advance against future “Test Shoots”, Elite Model Management compensated Errol Sawyer for normal costs of film and development, but nothing more.
John Casablancas NEVER informed Errol Sawyer that he should have recieved a “Finder’s Fee” of approximately six percent of Ms. Brinkley’s future earnings while under contract with Elite Model Management.
In fact, here's Mr. Sawyer's reaction to the lack of diversity in the modeling industry:
Errol said:
I am an African-American photographer residing in Amsterdam, The Netherlands I discovered Christie Brinkley in Paris, France in 1973 so trust I know what I am talking about.
Unless African-Americans, Africans, Hispanics, Asians begin to boycott the health and beauty products manufactured by transnational conglomerates like L'OreaL and Proctor&Gamble which feed off the minority communities worldwide by insisting they make it a part of their policy not to employ advertising agencies or purchase advertising pages in publications like Vogue, Marie Claire, Elle et al.
Unless these entities diversify the employment of minorities in ALL sectors of the fashion and beauty industry instead of just "models", nothing, absolutely nothing will change simply because contrary to Bethann Hardison's claim that making everyone "aware..." should alter the status quo, which quite obviously reads like a cop-out because I recall her efforts as head of the The Black Models Coalition from twenty years ago and the situation has only gotten worse, power is never surrendered willingly: it must be taken, period.
Looks like Sawyer, who grew up in New York City, Harlem and the Bronx is keeping up with current events. It would be fascinating to hear his take on this case.
Oh well, maybe we'll never know. Because after eight days of scandalous testimony, Brinkley and Cook worked through the night to hash out an agreement on custody and division of marital assets. The two have been fighting over custody of 13-year-old Jack and 10-year-old Sailor since their split in the summer of 2006.
Mainstream media have been hanging on every tidbit of info the trial has offered up. And admittedly, it's been full of salacious revelations about Cook's sex addiction, affair with teenage Diana Bianchi and his $3000-a-month Internet porn habit.
Meanwhile the man responsible for her "fabulous" career is still waiting for his check! Source