Antony Bourdain’s final text before suicide

Written by Olivier Guiberteau September 28, 2022

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It’s now been more than four years since Antony Bourdain, celebrity chef and widely popular TV personality, died by suicide while shooting a TV show in France. 

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Since then, several documentaries and books have emerged that have sought to examine Bourdain’s life and attempt to explain his unexpected suicide. 

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The latest, Charles Leerhsen's Down and Out in Paradise: The Life of Anthony Bourdain, is set to be released on 11th October and is already causing a stir. 

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Bourdain’s brother, Christopher, has already criticised the book for including numerous errors while labelling it as “defamatory fiction”.

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However, it is parts of the book released to the New York Times for review that have had the biggest effect on Bourdain’s legion of fans. 

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Just days before his suicide, he wrote to his ex-wife, Ottavia Busia-Bourdain, "I hate my fans, too. I hate being famous. I hate my job - I am lonely and living in constant uncertainty.” 

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But it was his final text message to his then-girlfriend just hours before his suicide that truly reveal his emotional well-being in the lead-up to the tragic event. 

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Asia Argento had dated Bourdain since 2016 but just five days before his suicide she was pictured dancing with another man in Rome. 

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Bourdain’s final text to her said, "I am not spiteful. I am not jealous that you have been with another man. I do not own you”.

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He finished with “You are free, as I said. As I promised. As I truly meant. But you were careless. You were reckless with my heart. My life." 

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Bourdain sadly took his own life just hours later. Despite the obvious pain he carried with him through the final stages of his life, he remains a much-loved personality around the world.