Anthony Bourdain's Suicide Prompts Stars to Share Their Own Depression Battles

Anthony Bourdain’s suicide stunned the culinary and entertainment world, with an outpouring of reactions from friends, fans and admirers hitting Twitter following news of his death at the age of 61.

Bourdain’s suicide days comes after fashion designer Kate Spade committed suicide at a New York City apartment. She was 55.

While many paid tribute to the 61-year-old’s storytelling and persona, others used Bourdain’s suicide to share stories of their own battles with depression.

Also Read: Anthony Bourdain, Chef and TV Host, Dies at 61

“A couple things I’ve written about my depression & how I’ve grappled with the urge to kill myself,” comedian Rob Delaney wrote on Twitter before linking to his Tumblr page and a 2013 article where he talks about depression. “In recovery suicide is often referred to as ‘a permanent solution to a temporary problem.’ We beat it *together*”

“I’ve brushed up against this darkness and I know it’s a tempting exit but REACH OUT to ANYONE,” said Patton Oswalt. “Stay on this side of it — in the light and warmth. Where you get to try again, every day.

Also Read: Anthony Bourdain Mourned by Celebrity Chefs, Other Stars: 'Heartbroken'

Here are some more reactions where folks implore those who need help to actively seek it.

❤️A couple things I’ve written about my depression & how I’ve grappled with the urge to kill myself.
1. https://t.co/Nxz9b4VrPy
2. https://t.co/yPoMHbG9cp

In recovery suicide is often referred to as “a permanent solution to a temporary problem.”

We beat it *together*❤️

— rob delaney (@robdelaney) June 8, 2018

National Suicide Hotline
1 800 273 8255

I’ve brushed up against this darkness and I know it’s a tempting exit but REACH OUT to ANYONE. Stay on this side of it — in the light and warmth. Where you get to try again, every day.

— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) June 8, 2018

Me too. https://t.co/crKEbEOp1J

— Audra McDonald (@AudraEqualityMc) June 8, 2018

Damn. Waking up to the news about Anthony Bourdain. Fuck that hurts. No other words, just sadness. Please, if anyone out there needs help… National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255

— Laura Jane Grace (@LauraJaneGrace) June 8, 2018

watching someone like anthony bourdain experience different cultures, people & food with unmitigated curiosity and joy helped me through my own depression and my sometimes-tortured relationship with food. RIP

— maya kosoff (@mekosoff) June 8, 2018

With Kate Spade and now Anthony Bourdain, two reminders: you can't always tell from outside what a person is going through. And from inside depression, you can't see that there's a way out, although there is. The National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1-800-273-8255.

— Derek Lowe (@Dereklowe) June 8, 2018

Anthony Bourdain's Best TV Moments, From a Meal With Obama to a Trip to Waffle House (Videos)

"Low plastic stool, cheap but delicious noodles, cold Hanoi beer." Bourdain famously tweeted this line along with a photo of himself and President Obama hunching over a small table in Vietnam as he demonstrated the best way to slurp noodles. It's an incredible sight to see both Obama and Bourdain so at home with their worldly curiosity and feels like an image of Americans at their best.
You may know it from the documentary "Jiro Dreams Of Sushi," but Bourdain got to the best sushi in the world first. In this clip he makes a great case for what it is to be a master of something and the importance of respecting someone else's values by eating something the way it was served. That means no soy sauce and no wasabi, just total faith that what you're about to eat will already taste like perfection.
Bourdain was known as a "rock star" chef for how he approached life with reckless abandon. So it makes sense that he'd be close with a bona fide rock star in Iggy Pop. While he had a lot of great musical moments lunching with musicians such as Serj Tankian in Armenia or The Black Keys in Kansas City, his finest moment came in Miami, where he sat down for a hilariously healthy and refined meal with one of punk's legends. "What does it say about us that we're now sitting in a healthy restaurant, I just came from the gym, and we're sitting in Florida?"
Bourdain's brash personality shines through in this brief clip in which he shows a little disdain at being so well known for making a relatively simple dish like scrambled eggs. But they might be the best scrambled eggs you'll make, and it's a must try. "Isn't it nice to do something vaguely normal like cooking for yourself," he says in the video. "I feel like a human being again."
Part of Bourdain's charm was that he was unapologetic about things he didn't like and had a way with words to embody his disgust. In this amusing clip of him talking with Conan O'Brien, he recalls a depressing meal he had at an airport Johnny Rocket's that he called temporarily "soul-destroying." "We all sort of stood there silently for a second, kind of sharing this moment of perfect misery. None of us were where we wanted to be."
One of Bourdain's more amusing discoveries in plain sight was him finally venturing to a Waffle House, this one in Charleston, South Carolina. The way he describes Waffle House as an inclusive, welcoming place with a warming, inviting yellow glow feels like a beautiful, microcosm of America.
"Neither East nor West but always somewhere in the middle," Bourdain says in this 2014 episode of "Parts Unknown" where he found some unexpected bonds with an Iranian family, sitting down to a glorious Persian, home cooked meal. He went in fully knowing that American audiences might react negatively to it and hoped to break down barriers.

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Late chef, traveler and host was a man of the world — these moments define his love affair with food and culture

"Low plastic stool, cheap but delicious noodles, cold Hanoi beer." Bourdain famously tweeted this line along with a photo of himself and President Obama hunching over a small table in Vietnam as he demonstrated the best way to slurp noodles. It's an incredible sight to see both Obama and Bourdain so at home with their worldly curiosity and feels like an image of Americans at their best.

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Anthony Bourdain's Best TV Moments, From a Meal With Obama to a Trip to Waffle House (Videos)

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