Anthony Bourdain’s ex Asia Argento slams biography as his brother rails against the book’s release
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Anthony Bourdain’s girlfriend at the time of his death is vehemently opposed to releasing a biography detailing the darkest moments in the man’s life.
Charles Leerhsen’s ‘Down and Out In Paradise: The Life of Anthony Bourdain’ has been praised by many media outlets for its search for the truth about what led the chef and TV host to commit suicide in 2018.
Released on October 11, the book contains bombshell information not previously reported and texts between the pair leading up to Bourdain’s death.
Leerhsen reached out to Argento while writing the book and, according to the book, received a damning reply in an email.
“It is always Judas who writes the biography,” Argento told the biographer.
Asia Argento, Anthony Bourdain’s girlfriend at the time of his death, turned down the unauthorized documentary about the dark moments of his life.
Bourdain hanged himself in a Paris hotel room in June 2018 after arguing with Argento over an alleged affair she was having.
The author describes Bourdain’s relationship with Asia Argento as a “classic adolescent case of the boy who wants the girl more than the girl wants to be wanted”
The Italian actor is publicly cited in the acknowledgments as a source who “didn’t mind being mentioned.”
However, Argento later said: The New York Times that she explicitly stated that he could not share anything publicly that she had told him via email correspondence.
She said she had written “clearly to this man that he could not publish anything I said to him.
Down And Out In Paradise: The Life Of Anthony Bourdain Releases October 11
The actor and Italian ‘X Factor’ host also told the New York Times that she has not read the book.
The controversial biography sometimes lists the actor’s relationship as one of the main factors leading to Bourdain’s suicide.
Days before he committed suicide, text messages revealed that the couple was arguing over an affair Argento is said to be having with journalist Hugo Clément.
“I’m okay,” Bourdain said in posts shared in the book. ‘I’m not hateful. I’m not jealous that you’ve been with another man. I don’t own you. You are free. As I said. As I promised. As I really meant.’
What seemed to bother the chef was that the affair took place in a Rome hotel close to the couple’s heart.
“But you were careless. You were reckless with my heart. My life.’
Argento replied, “I can’t handle this.” The actor then Bourdain told her she didn’t like how possessive he was of her and that their time together was over.
Bourdain replied, “Is there anything I can do?” To which Argento said: ‘Stop destroying my balls.’
Bourdain replied simply, “Okay.”
Just hours later, he committed suicide by hanging.
Anthony Bourdain, photographed days before his death in June 2018, ‘never stopped drinking despite overcoming drug addiction’ according to book
Leerhsen does not shy away from using these messages, even starting his biography with the exchange.
Three months after Bourdain’s death, Argento spoke to DailyMailTV while in the midst of an intense public scrutiny.
“People say I killed him. They say I killed him,” she said through tears in the interview.
“Do people have to think he killed himself for something like that? He had cheated on me too. It was no problem for us. He was a man who traveled 265 days a year. We had a lot of fun in each other’s company when we saw each other. But we are not children. We are adults.’
The author also took his work seriously when it came to research for the biography.
Leerhsen at one point stayed in the exact same hotel room in Paris where Bourdain committed suicide.
“There have been people who have criticized me for saying it was creepy or that I’m the kind of reporter who goes through people’s trash cans,” Leerhsen said. The Associated Press.
“But all the best biographers — I wouldn’t put myself in their ranks — but all the guys who win the awards, they believe you really have to go where that person was,” Leerhsen continued.
Bourdain was filming his CNN show “Parts Unknown” at the time of his death in June 2018.
Sources who spoke to the author said the host had left “several times to talk” with Argento on the phone and was troubled by the state of their relationship.
Hours before he committed suicide, Bourdain asked, “Is there anything I can do?” Argento replied: ‘Stop destroying my balls’
“It escalated on Wednesday when she told him she no longer wanted to be with him,” the book says.
“Everyone watched him all day and night because he was incredibly distraught. More screaming phone calls during the day. He seemed to be better on Thursday and actually wanted everyone to withdraw,” Leerhsen continues.
Argento isn’t the only person close to Bourdain to take on “Down and Out In Paradise: The Life of Anthony Bourdain.”
Christopher Bourdain, Anthony’s brother, denounced the publication of the book and the use of personal information, including text messages, emails and private messages.
Bourdain was angry with Argento after she was spotted with journalist Hugo Clément at the Hotel de Russie in Rome, where he and Argento shared special memories
Christopher Bourdain, Anthony’s brother, also called the biography “defamatory fiction”
Christopher called the biography “hurtful and defamatory fiction.”
The Los Angeles Timeshowever, said Leerhsen had given advance copies to relatives and friends who “confirmed that my view of the Bourdain family dynamics is correct.”
Bourdain and Argento’s family had previously challenged the book and accused Leershen of multiple inaccuracies. Publisher Simon & Schuster was there.
Leehrsen also defended his book as “sympathetic” and “true to the man.”
Bourdain with his ex-wife Ottavia Busia-Bourdain. The book describes her as his confidante towards the end of his life
Ariane, the TV chef’s daughter, was 11 when he died. He had all but ‘disappeared’ from her life, according to the new biography
“Everything he writes about relationships and interactions within our family as children and as adults he has either made up or done completely wrong,” said Christopher, Bourdain’s brother. The New York Times.
The explosive new biography claims Bourdain struggled with alcohol and steroids and had also slept with prostitutes.
In a text message to his ex-wife, Ottavia Busia-Bourdain, before his death, Bourdain said he had become disillusioned with fame and felt isolated.
“I hate my fans too. I hate being famous. I hate my job. I am lonely and live in constant uncertainty.’
JOURNALIST BEHIND BOURDAIN’S UNAUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY SAYS TV CHEF ‘KNEW WHAT HE WOULD BECOME’
Charles Leerhsen, the author of the book, previously wrote for Rolling Stone. He is also the former editor of Sports Illustrated.
He told The New York Times that he wanted to offer a side of Bourdain that didn’t have the polish of “an official Bourdain product.”
Towards the end of his life, he said he believes the chief “knew what he had become.”
Charles Leerhsen’s book, “Down And Out In Paradise: The Life of Anthony Bourdain,” will be published October 11.
“I think at the very end, in the last days and hours, he realized what he had become.
“I have no respect for him who killed himself, but he did realize it, and in the end he knew he didn’t want to be the person he had become,” he said.
He added that he had no trouble finding enough people to talk to him, despite Bourdain’s brother’s protests. Leerhsen also claims that Bourdain’s agent Kim Witherspoon has told others not to talk to him.
“A lot of people were willing to talk to me because they were left behind by Tony and by the Tony train,” he said.
Leershen’s past biographies include works on Butch Cassidy, Ty Cobb and TV director Brandon Tartikoff.