Andrew Zimmern Reveals His "Biggest Fear" of What "Idiots" Will Do Now That Anthony Bourdain Is Gone
Chef Andrew Zimmern is collecting his thoughts after the death of Anthony Bourdain in June.
After Anthony Bourdain's death by suicide on June 8 in France, Andrew Zimmern, who fought his own addiction battles, was among the first chefs to speak out in praise of the late Parts Unknown host, calling him a "symphony." And now that almost a month has gone by since Bourdain's tragic loss, Zimmern is opening up.
“I just feel really sad," Zimmern told Us Weekly. "There were very few voices out there speaking out for other cultures, the concept of the ‘other,’ the desire to make the invisible visible, and the underlying meaning of being a citizen on planet Earth. The things that Tony stood for, we’ve lost the loudest voice in our world for that, and there’s only a handful of us who do that kind of thing. It’s a small club.”
To that end, Zimmern revealed his fear about what could happen now that Bourdain has left a void: “My fear is that having realized how valuable he was now that he’s gone, that there’s some network out there ready to launch 30 Bourdain copycat shows with real idiots hosting them. That’s probably my biggest fear, which would be, I think, a setback to all the work that not only Tony did, but that I’m doing and that others are trying to do. That scares me because that’s something that’s very typically American.”
Zimmern added in his interview with Us, "I know it sounds crass and almost craven to start talking about it just a few short weeks after his death. But I know the way these things work, and I know in some room somewhere, there’s people starting to scribble these things on a blackboard and game plan it and market it."
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text “help” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
