When Anthony Bourdain passed away in 2018, many fans began celebrating the vibrant life that the world-renowned chef and TV host led. Now, years later, a new book chronicling Bourdain’s last days is set to be released, and those close to Bourdain are unhappy.
As reported by The New York Times earlier this week, Bourdain’s personal texts, emails, and various writings are set to be published in an unauthorized biography, Down and Out in Paradise by Charles Leerhsen. Many who knew Bourdain have been critical of the biography, which goes very in-depth on a notoriously private person. In the book, the chef’s final texts to his then-partner Asia Argento have been revealed.
The exchange began when Bourdain asked if there was anything he could do, and Argento texted back “Stop busting my balls,” to which he replied, “Okay.” He was found dead the next morning. Argento made it clear that she did not want her words used in the book, though it seems like that request was not honored. Argento told The New York Times, “I wrote clearly to this man that he could not publish anything I said to him,” she also confirmed that she did not read the book.
While she has not publicly addressed Down and Out in Paradise, Argento posted an Instagram story last night of her wearing a shirt that had an image of bodybuilder Ronnie Coleman (Argento herself is a bodybuilder). She added the text “Stop busting my balls” over the shirt, which we all know were the last words she shared with Bourdain.
This seems to be Argento’s quiet way of addressing the book, which hits shelves on October 11th. If there is anything we can learn from this scenario, it’s that we don’t truly know or understand celebrities as much as we think we do. In a lot of ways.