Asia Argento seemingly clapped back at intimate revelations about her last words with the late Anthony Bourdain before his tragic June 2018 suicide. The stunning actress, 47, took to Instagram stories on Thursday, September 29 to post a photo of a graphic t shirt with bodybuilder Ronnie Coleman on it, and a caption reading “Stop busting my balls.” The words, incidentally, were reportedly texted between Asia and Anthony in the days before he died at age 61, according to the Charles Leerhsen-authored book Down and Out in Paradise: The Life of Anthony Bourdain.
An excerpt published in The New York Times on September 27 revealed both trouble in the romantic relationship between the famous chef and Italian actress, and their alleged private texts amid an argument. Anthony, after reportedly seeing video of Asia dancing with somebody else at an Italian hotel, texted, “I am okay. I am not spiteful. I am not jealous that you have been with another man. I do not own you. You are free. As I said. As I promised. As I truly meant. But you were careless. You were reckless with my heart. My life,” the Parts Unknown host reportedly texted.
Asia, who Anthony began dating back in 2016, was reportedly upset that the chef had resumed a relationship with then estranged wife Ottavia Busia, whom he shared daughter Ariane, now 15, with. The duo reportedly split after nine years in September of 2016. “I can’t take this,” Asia texted, accusing him of possessive behavior and then breaking the relationship off. “Is there anything I can do?,” Anthony responded. Asia then allegedly wrote, “Stop busting my balls,” according to the Times. He then apparently wrote “OK,” and hanged himself with a belt later the same day in his hotel room in France.
While the book, which is set for release on October 11, certainly appears to offer up fascinating tidbits, it already has its detractors. Per the NYT, Asia told the author that he “could not publish anything I said to him,” and Anthony’s brother Christopher Bourdain allegedly called the work ”defamatory.”
It’s worth noting that Asia has taken to the same social media platform in the past to express her grief over Anthony’s death. “You want pain? Here’s the pain,” she captioned an Instagram selfie of swollen, crying eyes on June 9, 2020. “No filter needed. Two years without my love.”
