Anthony Bourdain’s final days offer a heartbreaking glimpse into those struggles, the American author and chef faced, before his passing in 2018.
The beloved TV host, known for his adventurous spirit and deep love of food and culture, was dealing with personal turmoil behind the scenes.
Anthony’s assistant, Laurie Woolever, shared their final text messages before the author tragically took his own life.
In her new book ‘Care and Feeding’, Laurie shared: “When I asked Tony what he’d like me to do about the Enquirer, he said, ‘Ignore it, and ignore any similar queries from other pubs. But let me know when the Enquirer piece drops.”
“A [Parts Unknown] producer Helen had heard that things were apparently tense on set in France, and everyone was walking the tightrope, trying to give him both the emotional support he seemed to need and the space to process his pain with a measure of private dignity,” she added.
“The next day, Tony asked me to schedule a number of things for him — ¬a lunch, a haircut, a doctor appointment, a private session with his jiu-¬jitsu trainer — ¬for the week after his return to New York. ‘I hope you’re doing OK,’ I texted to him, and when he responded, ‘I’ll live, and we’ll survive,’ I assumed that the ‘we’ meant him and Asia, their complicated relationship.”
Despite looking forward to what will come next, Anthony left Woolever stunned and heartbroken when he took his own life.
Laurie wrote: “At 4:25 the next morning, my phone vibrated on the windowsill next to my bed, waking me from a light sleep. It was Kim, Tony’s agent. When I answered the call, she said, ‘Tony has taken his life.”
