Anthony Bourdain ‘never stopped drinking,’ ‘hated’ himself: book

The late Anthony Bourdain may have overcome his drug addiction but was never able to stop drinking — and hated himself for it, a new controversial biography alleged.

In “Down And Out In Paradise: The Life of Anthony Bourdain,” which will be released Oct. 11, author Charles Leerhsen spoke to The Guardian about Bourdain’s sad, final days.

The American chef and TV presenter hanged himself in a French hotel room in June 2018. Bourdain was allegedly heartbroken after seeing pictures of his ex-girlfriend, Asia Argento, dancing with another man in Rome.

“He became someone that he hated. By the time he realized that, he was too physically exhausted to straighten things out,” Leerhsen told the outlet.

“He thought it simpler to seek what is famously called ‘a permanent solution to a temporary problem,” he added. “Recovery, you might say, was one of the few things he couldn’t go all the way with.”

The Post has contacted Bourdain’s former assistant for comment.

In his 2000 memoir “Kitchen Confidential,” Bourdain described that the kitchens he worked in during the 1980s were “drenched in drugs and alcohol and accompanied by constantly loud rock-and-roll music.”

He admitted that he and his coworkers did everything from marijuana, cocaine and LSD to codeine and heroin. Bourdain told Biography.com in 2016 that he got off of heroin in the 1980s, but some of his friends from around that era “just got off 5, 6, maybe 10 years ago.”

“If he did something, he did it all out, whether it was comic books as a kid or fascination with the JFK assassination,” Leerhsen added. “But he pulled up short with recovery; he never stopped drinking.” 

Bourdain’s family is not happy that this book will be released. His brother, Christopher, has tried twice to stop it from publishing, telling the New York Times that “every single thing he writes about relationships and interactions within our family as kids and as adults he fabricated or got totally wrong.”

However, Bourdain’s ex-wife, Ottavia Busia-Bourdain, is not fighting the release of the book and Leerhsen even called her his confidante.

Last week, Leerhsen released text messages allegedly between Bourdain and Busia-Bourdain where he reportedly stated he was “lonely and living in constant uncertainty.”

“I hate my fans, too,” he allegedly declared. “I hate being famous. I hate my job.”