Man, Anthony Bourdain spent his life building a certain reputation as one of the good guys, and it kind of looks like his dick is going to cost him that reputation, at least in part, after his death. Things just keep looking worse for his former partner Asia Argento, who used Bourdain’s money to pay off the 17-year-old whom Argento says she didn’t have sex with but told her friend, Rose McGowan’s partner Rain Dove, in a text message she had sex with him. Oh, and they took a post-coital selfie.
In response to the allegations, CNN has pulled two episodes of Parts Unknown from its streaming service CNN Go, along with an episode she directed. Last week the actress was axed from X Factor Italy, with rumors that she’ll be replaced by her ex-husband.
One of the things Argento allegedly told Dove in the texts TMZ obtained is that Anthony Bourdain hired a private investigator who amassed an eighty page dossier on her accuser, Jimmy Bennett. That is like, exactly the sort of thing Harvey Weinstein did, you know. And she says that Bourdain was pushing her to pay him off against her wishes, along with her plans to “leak” that information to The Guardian.
So far, and probably only because he’s passed, Argento’s behavior hasn’t tarred Bourdain’s name. But it’s pretty clear she’s still looking to drag him through the mud to save her own reputation. I don’t think it’s going to help. CNN is probably doing Bourdain a solid by removing his relationship with Argento from the public eye.