Anthony Bourdain vented to ex and fought with girlfriend before he died

The last steps of chef Anthony Bourdain, who died aged 61 after committing suicide in 2018, will be revealed in an unauthorized biography that should hit bookstores on October 11 in the United States. Some parts of the book were advanced by the New York Times and are already causing controversy.

Author Charles Leerhsen claims to have had access to text messages sent by the American, who became a celebrity by hosting cooking and travel shows on TV. “I hate my fans, I hate being famous and I hate my job,” he wrote to his ex-wife, Ottavia Busia-Bourdain, with whom he remained friends. “I am alone and I live in constant uncertainty.”

With his girlfriend, Asia Argento, 47, he had a fight on the day of his death, according to the book. The actress had been photographed dancing with another man five days earlier in Rome. “I’m calm, I’m not angry or jealous that you were with another man,” he wrote.

“I don’t own you, you are free. As I said and promised, and I really meant it. But you were careless. You were irresponsible with my heart and my life,” he complained. He then asked the actress if there was anything he could do, to which the actress replied, “Stop bothering me.” In one of his last communications, Bourdain just wrote “ok”.

Bourdain was in Kaysersberg-Vignoble, France, where he was filming an episode of CNN’s “Parts Unknown” documentary series, when he decided to take his own life on June 8, 2018. He became famous in the early 2000s with the success of the book “Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in Culinary Underbelly” and shortly after, he made his TV debut with the show “A Cook’s Tour”. He has also hosted shows such as “No Reservations” and “The Layover”, as well as being a judge for the competition “The Taste”.

The unauthorized biography is already causing controversy even before its release. According to the New York Times, the chef’s family has already complained to the publisher through an email sent by his brother Christopher. He called the book “painful” and “defamatory fiction”, calling for the release to be delayed until the author’s “many mistakes” were corrected.

Publisher Simon & Schuster, however, responded that it disagreed with the book’s defamatory information and said it would keep publishing. The company reported that the author conducted more than 80 interviews, in addition to gaining access to different files, text messages and emails from Bourdain’s computer and phone.