This morning, Anthony Bourdain was found dead of an apparent suicide at the age of 61. As social media worked to come to terms with another famous person taking their own lives in one week, many shared stories about the outspoken chef, but none were quite as moving as Yashar Ali’s thread.
Even if you disagreed with Anthony and his views, this reveals that he was an exceptional human being.
Grab a tissue.
1. My heart is broken. Anthony Bourdain was so good to me and a big reason I'm still doing what I'm doing. In January I fell into a deep depression for the first time in my life. Having never dealt with it in the past, I was unprepared. Tony helped me save myself 1 text at a time
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) June 8, 2018
2. Tony was such a righteous man. He loved @AsiaArgento so much..he was so happy that Weinstein had been taken down. But he wasn't satisfied with that. He wanted more justice for women who had been targeted by bad men and he wanted the survivors to feel supported.
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) June 8, 2018
3. For example, earlier this year when @rosemcgowan was being criticized publicly during her book tour he texted me at 3 AM and told me we needed to make sure she felt publicly supported "this is turning into a win for HW," he said.
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) June 8, 2018
4. While many people, including reporters, had moved on from the Weinstein saga he wanted to make sure there was justice. He texted me repeatedly with ideas and every time a Weinstein survivor was attacked he would let me know because he was determined to stop Harvey's machine.
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) June 8, 2018
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5. When Tony got a tip that Harvey had been seen in Gstaad he told me I had to chase it down. It was an order and I was happy to accept the challenge. It turned out to be a bad tip but he wasn't going to let Harvey win. "That motherfucker is gonna skate.." he said to me.
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) June 8, 2018
6. One night in early February he was signaling me with restaurant suggestions and I told him I was dealing with depression for the first time and wanted to give up on work. "Maybe I'm not meant to do this," I said. What he said next I'm going to keep private but for the past
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) June 8, 2018
7. few months he has made me feel like a million bucks. He made me feel like I had an obligation to keep going..and when I shared some career news with him while I was still grappling with depression he was happier for me than I was for myself.
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) June 8, 2018
8. Tony hated bullshit and he hated the glitz and glamour of the media business (as many of you could tell by watching his show). When Vogue published a puff piece that I was deeply critical of he texted me and said…
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) June 8, 2018
9. "Good. They were loathsome to begin with. Just continuing a tradition of rape apologia & enabling." In my experience, there was no middle of the road with Tony – either he hated something or he absolutely loved it. He felt a serious sense of responsibility to expose the truth
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) June 8, 2018
10. Forgive me for rambling…I'm trying to write this while I'm sitting outside crying and trying to catch my breath. Tony was so so proud of @AsiaArgento. Since Asia lives in Rome, I missed some of her press appearances and speeches..Anthony would always send them to me
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) June 8, 2018
11. And even though he knew I was friends with Asia and would do anything for her, he would still ask me every time to share what he had sent…he just wanted to be sure. He was so proud of her and as he mentioned in a piece just last week..he felt she was a peer.
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) June 8, 2018
12. Tony was also so proud of @RonanFarrow – almost every time Ronan was honored, Tony would signal me to share the news..so Tony was a great friend..but if he didn't like you, you would know it. He was also determined, like Ronan, to expose the system that enabled Weinstein.
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) June 8, 2018
13. I'm so sad this morning..but I really get it now when people say things like "he would have wanted me to keep working." I have to keep working. A few weeks ago a friend told me they delete all their texts and emails. Not to keep things private – they just hate digital clutter
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) June 8, 2018
14. I told them I thought that was silly because I often go back to texts from friends and read them again. I'm so glad I have a treasure trove of texts from Tony. I can look at them when I'm having a hard day…I just sent him a text message even though he's gone on ahead of us.
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) June 8, 2018
This breaks our heart.
This tweet right here.
15/15 "Thank you for everything you did for me and so many others. I will think of you always." iMessage says the text was delivered.
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) June 8, 2018
Big tears.
Thank you, Yashar for sharing this thread and for sharing your friendship with ‘Tony’ with us.
Editor’s note: If you are feeling hopeless, please reach out. You are not alone, especially in this world of social media. Someone somewhere is there to listen.
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