CHEF’S PAIN AT THE END
Bourdain reveal
Anthony Bourdain struggled with fame and heartbreak in the days leading up to his death by suicide, a new book reveals.
In an unauthorized biography titled, “Down and Out in Paradise: The Life of Anthony Bourdain,” journalist Charles Leerhsen includes text messages sent by the celebrity chef in the final days before his June 2018 death at 61 that give insight into his mindset.
“I hate my fans, too. I hate being famous. I hate my job,” Bourdain wrote to ex-wife Ottavia BusiaBourdain, who had remained one of his close confidants, per an excerpt published by The
New York Times. “I am lonely and living in constant uncertainty.”
Leerhsen also notes in the book, out Oct. 11, that Bourdain and his then-girlfriend of two years, actress Asia Argento, had opposing fits of jealousy.
Five days before his suicide, the CNN host saw photos of Argento, dancing with French reporter Hugo Clément in a Roman restaurant the couple had frequented.
According to the book, Bourdain was “incensed” over the images and searched her name online “hundreds of times,” causing them to argue over the phone and via texts.
“I am okay. I am not spiteful. I am not jealous that you have been with another man. I do not own you. You are free. As I said. As I promised. As I truly meant,” the “Parts Unknown” star reportedly texted Argento a day before his death.
“But you were careless. You were reckless with my heart. My life.”
‘I can’t take this’
Bourdain noted in the same conversation that he was most hurt by the fact that Argento’s alleged tryst took place at a hotel in Rome that they loved.
Argento then reportedly wrote back to him, “I can’t take this.”
The “XXX” star proceeded to break up with Bourdain over his “possessiveness,” according to the book.
A day later — after a full day of filming CNN’s “Parts Unknown” followed by a night of drinking — the beloved chef reached out to Argento once more.
Bourdain simply wrote back, “OK,” and hanged himself that evening.
Argento told the Times that she had not read the book but said of Leerhsen, “I wrote clearly to this man that he could not publish anything I said to him.”
Argento, now 47, has said that her infidelity was not to blame for Bourdain’s death.
“I understand that the world needs to find a reason. I would like to find a reason too,” she told “DailyMailTV” in September 2018.