Why is CNN so obsessed with Anthony Bourdain?!

1. He is still very popular

2. They have a lot of footage they can use to make shows about him

3. It's inexpensive to produce these shows

CNN is still around?

Former junkie became narcissistic foodie.

Stupid public ate it up.

Let's build statues.

I saw commercials for CNN's recent shows where Bourdain was prominently displayed & was thinking the same thing. It's almost like "if you liked Bourdain's show, you'll LOVE our new show with Sanjay Gupta, Stanley Tucci or some other rando (Bill Weir?)"

Even though I realize this wasn't the way he really was, Bourdain's travel shows kind of had "every man" quality to it in that he was an average guy who by sheer luck made it big, but he came from simple tastes and recognized that people aren't necessarily staying in 4 star hotels, eating gourmet meals, etc (again, image vs. reality). I don't get that from Tucci, Gupta or Weir - it's like they make travel about themselves, if that makes sense. Tucci, you can kind of see, because he's from Italy, but Bourdain appealed to people because he seemed to be about traveling to find something in yourself rather than "How Awesome I Am"

Zombie Bourdain programming.

I removed CNN from my favorite channels list, and while their constant Bourdain shilling wasn't the sole reason, it was a big one. It's weird to the point of aggravating. The man is dead, enough already!

As far as CNN is concerned, it’s simply cheap programming filler. Even more cheap because the man is dead! You don’t even need to pay a ‘warm body’ for the airtime. Simply edit a lot of b rolls and Voilá, you have a weekend prime time special. Plus, you can air it free over the next 10+ years. It makes a lot of $$$cents$$$.

R7, I assume his family /his estate gets paid for the use of his likeness.

Does he have a family? Does anyone know as much about Bourdain? He certainly did not mention any thing about his personal affairs.

He thought Rose MacGowen was hot. ‘Nuff said.

R8, I THINK he had a daughter but not sure. Either way, no. It's not assured his estate receives anything off all those shows. In fact, it's pretty unlikely. His contract would have had to have a clause, I would assume, stipulating and agreeing that he receives royalties postmortem. While he likely would have received something had he been alive and they were airing his likeness, all work he did for them is likely their property following his death as a contract is now null and void. He didn't appear the be the warmest guy in the world and chances are he didn't think that far ahead to insist his heirs receive anything off the airing of shows he had already been paid for. And in that particular business which is more journalistic in nature, I doubt he would have negotiated a contract like a television or a movie actor. He got paid a hefty sum, CNN says "We'll pay you this much and everything we shoot belongs to us in perpetuity". That's likely how it went down. But, who knows.

I hated when he would try to sound poetic when describing some disgusting street food fried in rusty pans.

Reissue, reissue, repackage! Re-evaluate the songs. Double-pack with a photograph. Extra track (and a tacky badge).

R12, LOL! That's exactly why I couldn't watch anything with him in it! That cheesy, sing-songy prose of his. He kind of thought he was a brilliant writer, and everything had to have him narrating and pontificating on some trip or food as if every viewer was enraptured by him. I'm so sorry he's gone and that he was tortured, but he also had a healthy ego and it came across in the smug, over-the-top narration. He really thought of himself as some globetrotting explorer, as if this cigarette stained, entitled New Yorker was the first person to ever taste or relay the cuisine experiences of Phnom Penh or eat crawfish from the Atchafalaya basin. In that way, he was a total, delusional New Yorker and I found it condescending and irritating.

That's what lawyers are for, R11. You the non-expert pays the experts to write the contracts that cover your ass.

He was well-known (a celebrity chef as much as he claimed to hate that concept) a bestselling author, and had already done at least one other series before CNN got him. He wasn't wet behind the ears; he knew how to make a lot of money and pay people to protect it.

He did have a daughter who must be a teenager or close to it now.

CNN jumping on the Death Porn Train.

Very popular with Fraus. See Chrissy T.. & her unborn fetus. Travels with them in its special box. Her other kids have to make gifts for it, all documented on SM. Even regular Fraus doing this with miscarried babies from years ago. Finally,"mourning" this loss, now naming the fetus, memorial,etc. I unfortunately work with one of these. She got her inspiration she says from seeing others do this important work as well. She miscarried 13 years ago,FFS.

But to be fair, not just Fraus. Guys do it as well. Prince Harry..My Mommy got killed, whenever he needs a PR boost. Joe Biden, My son the good one, to try & boost his numbers.

Apparently now no one can,"Rest In Peace"

Because Bourdain is "too edgy" for MSNBC dear.

Weekend at Bernies

Thank you Morrissey @ R13.

I always thought he was a big drunk, rambling on about himself, the way drunks do. I think he even tried sobriety at some point, but not for long. Hard to be a socializing foodie without drinking.

And it seems his death has always been fishy. Seemed to me, alone and drinking by himself in a foreign country, that maybe, like David Carradine, he was self-asphyxiating while pulling on it, and went too far.

I loved his bromance with Eric, though, the French chef who found his body.

His show with Iggy Pop in Miami is poignant. Love is what matters.

I'll watch when they give Asia Argento a special letting her tell her own side of the story. There are so many awful things said about her and her relationship with Anthony Bourdain on a daily basis, yet she is never given much of an opportunity to defend herself.

There's no stopping her from speaking her mind; I'm guessing the truth would be even uglier: he was needy, depressed & clung to me like a barnacle, so at some point I cut him loose & hooked up with some other hot piece. Yes, he killed himself, but he was just looking for an excuse to end his misery & I gave him one.

I think Bourdain is revered by a certain type of straight guy in his 30s or 40s — mostly white, mostly middle to upper middle class, probably fancies himself “creative” but is in a boring job. I know a lot of these types socially. These guys loved Bourdain’s style of essentially safe, mostly nonpolitical antiestablishmentarianism. It’s a viewing demographic that I assume CNN is desperate to grow its slice of, and they must be tuning in if CNN keeps recycling this stuff

They don't have much else, OP.

Bourdain's show was B O R I N G!

I started watching them after his demise and when they became available on Netflix. After the third or fourth episode I still had no idea what all the fuss was about. He wasn't particularly smart, inciteful, interesting or funny. I stopped watching after he mentioned all food is potential feces. Now you figured out this stroke of insight? I thought the show should have been titled Anthony Mundain

I was surprised when he died how many people deeply loved him. I was astonished, because I always found him annoying--just a sour craggy-faced know-it-all.

CNN is restructuring right now, and so they need to burn off filler.

Well, he was a major star there. And his passing was pretty shocking. I'm just relieved I'm not seeing ads for another special on JFK, Jackie O, Marilyn or Diana. I've heard enough about all of those people to last me a lifetime. The worst was when that evil pile of shit John McCain kicked it. The funeral lasted like a month.

R22 I was a Bourdain fan but people see what they want to see. They've decided that Asia " caused" his suicide and they will not be swayed otherwise. I liked him but he was deeply troubled and had been for years ( I say this as someone who has massive mental issues myself).

His Kitchen Confidential was shit. Les Halles was shittier. He wasted a good necktie.

It seemed to me that he fell for a woman not his wife, his wife said "Do what you want." He did and regretted. This was on HIM.

I liked when he reminisced about his junkie days in Provincetown. About chain smoking Lark cigarettes and hanging out with the dispossessed and deviants of the day. He had a nice big dick that he shared with others.

I'm sorry he's dead. When I heard, I thought if Bourdain can't find an excuse to keep living, we're all doomed. But I guess it really is a disease.

I'm surprised someone who had major depression issues would choose a job with so much travel.. Not an easy life. It can be quite lonely and depressing even for people who are generally happy and healthy.

As a now clean heroin addict I can say, yes, the White Dragon is the bit*h that hunts your a **Forevah. However, switching alcohol is a bad move since it is a depressant. A depressive drinking a depressant youdothemath.

Lou Reed worshipper.

[quote]I'm surprised someone who had major depression issues would choose a job with so much travel..

One of his long time associates in the documentary "Road Runner" talks about how he was never happy & always looking for the next thing: he was bored & wanted to leave, he got there & wanted to go home, wash, rinse, repeat. So I could see how such a depressed, discontented person had to keep moving to keep his mind occupied & not deal with his real troubles.

Asia Argento told 'possessive' Anthony Bourdain to stop 'busting her balls' in final text before he killed himself: TV chef was sleeping with prostitutes, hooked on STEROIDS and spent his last days 'drinking to oblivion', bombshell new book claims

Asia Argento texted Anthony Bourdain telling him to stop 'busting her balls' in her final message hours before he killed himself, an explosive new biography claims.

It was after complaining of his 'possessiveness' and breaking up with him when he complained that she'd been photographed flirting with a French journalist at a hotel where they shared special memories.

The texts are now revealed in Down and Out in Paradise: The Life of Anthony Bourdain, a new biography about Bourdain and the first 'unauthorized' book since his death.

Bourdain hanged himself in a French hotel room in 2018 while filming on location for his hit CNN show Parts Unknown.

The public outpouring of sympathy for the TV star was sizeable; his fans celebrated how he'd overcome addiction to launch a successful career, and hailed his unpretentious, down to earth nature.

The book challenges that picture of Bourdain as the people's hero. It claims he was hooked on steroids, drinking heavily and sleeping with prostitutes.

In one text to his ex-wife, Ottavia Busia-Bourdain, he complained: 'I hate my fans, too. I hate being famous. I hate my job. I am lonely and living in constant uncertainty.'

The book also includes text messages, emails and the search history of Bourdain's computer, all of which reveal his pained his relationship with Argento.

She had broken up with him, citing his 'possessiveness' over her.

Bourdain had been left heartbroken by photographs of the Italian actress dancing with journalist Hugo Clement in the lobby of Hotel de Russie in Rome, where she and Bourdain shared special memories.

The book reveals that he searched her name online 'hundreds' of times afterwards.

In their final text exchange, he asked: 'Is there anything I can do?'

She replied: 'Stop busting my balls'.

He responded: 'OK' and killed himself hours later.

Bourdain's family and Asia Argento have already challenged the book, accusing Leershen of multiple inaccuracies. Simon and Schuster is standing by it.

'Every single thing he writes about relationships and interactions within our family as kids and as adults he fabricated or got totally wrong,' Christopher, Bourdain's brother, told the Times.

Argento declined to comment for the book. In an email to the journalist that she says she forbid him from publishing, she said: 'It is always Judas who writes the biography.'

Despite Bourdain's brother's attempts to have the book blocked, it is due to be released on October 11.

Busia-Bourdain is not fighting its publication.

The author claims she had become his confidante, and includes texts and emails between the pair.

In one, Bourdain told his ex that he'd spent two years 'hopelessly in love' with Argento.

The biography claims that Argento 'became so controlling that she scrutinized the social media accounts of Mr. Bourdain and his wife, blowing up when she saw images of him with his family.'

'You didn't want me to put a pic that you had in it because Asia would freak out and I have a feeling that will not change anytime soon.

'I'm tired of pretending I don't know you. Or that we are never in the same place,' Busia-Bourdain told him.

He replied: 'I feel you. But I was being honest. The pap [arazzi] situation is horrendous.

'Since I left you guys, though, she’s freaking out.'

He defended her publicly and privately, quietly paying off Jimmy Bennett, a man who'd demanded $3.5million from her, claiming she'd molested him by sleeping with him when he was 17 and she was 37.

Bourdain came forward after seeing Argento speak publicly about being one of Harvey Weinstein's victims. Leershen claims he is being met with resistance because the portrait he paints of Bourdain is unflattering.

'A lot of people were willing to talk to me because they were left behind by Tony and by the Tony train,' he said.

Argento has spoken publicly of her grief. In September 2018, she broke her silence in exclusive an interview with DailyMail.com and DailyMailTV.

She sobbed that people accused her of murdering him by cavorting publicly with Clement in Rome in the days before Bourdain's death.

'He cheated on me too. It wasn't a problem for us. But I understand that the world needs to find a reason. I would like to find a reason too. I don't have it.

'Maybe I would feel some solace in thinking there was something that happened.'

His suicide did not surprise me. He reminded me of that uber-cool friend in high school or college who can be endearing, charming, and humble one moment and in the next make fun of you for not knowing the existence of some esoteric band or for something you are wearing. The friend who makes plans with you for Friday or Saturday night and then drops you when a better opportunity comes along, often neglecting to inform you they are canceling their plans with you. Perhaps I am wrong but this was the vibe I got from him.

^ And Asia seems the same way.

'I am okay. I am not spiteful. I am not jealous that you have been with another man. I do not own you. 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.'

Argento - 'I can't take this.'

Bourdain - 'Is there anything I can do?

Argento - 'Stop busting my balls'

Bourdain -' OK'

Asia Argento has cleaned up her life now. She has gone vegan, is a Buddhist, has given up all drugs and alcohol, and has a new man.

we'll see how long that last

He just seemed creepy to me. People have terrible judgment these days.