Anthony Bourdain‘s apparent suicide is a “complete shock” to those who worked with him on his award-winning CNN show, Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown.
“It’s such a shock we don’t know where this is coming from, how this could possibly happen. When I was working with him last week he was giddy,” Karen Reynolds, director of CNN PR and Bourdain’s longtime publicist for Parts Unknown, tells PEOPLE on Friday.
“He was effusive and happy about the Hong Kong episode that was all he could talk about weeks leading up to it, how it was like a high water mark for him,” Reynolds says of the June 3 episode directed by Bourdain’s girlfriend Asia Argento that featured Australian-Hong Kong cinematographer Christopher Doyle.
“He was so happy. I didn’t talk to him this week but all I know was he was so happy last week. I mean giddy,” she recalls. “He was texting me and emailing me which he doesn’t normally do about publicity for episodes but he was like, ‘This is a high water mark, this is the best thing I’ve ever done.’ He was so excited to be working with Christopher Doyle. I saw nothing that would indicate what happened like why this would happen. We’re just floored. A complete shock.”
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Anthony Bourdain Owen Hoffmann/Patrick McMullan/Getty
On Friday, longtime friend and renowned chef Eric Ripert found Bourdain unresponsive in his hotel room in France. Ripert was in France with him to film an upcoming episode of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown.
“I never get into the personal stuff with him but the last I heard was he was excited and thrilled that Asia was part of the Hong Kong episode,” Reynolds says of Bourdain and Argento’s relationship which first blossomed when they collaborated on the Rome episode of Parts Unknown in 2016. They began dating a year later.
“He was so proud of her work and the fact that [Argento and Doyle] collaborated on that episode. That’s the last I heard from him and he was so happy. It’s such a loss for all of us,” Reynolds shares.
A police spokesperson in Strasbourg confirmed Bourdain’s death to PEOPLE, but would not confirm the cause of death. The manner of death has been classified as a suicide.
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Amid the shock and sadness of Bourdain’s passing, Reynolds remembers her friend as a “good person” in addition to a great collaborator.
“He wasn’t typical. This is such a mystery. Everything was on the record and he was upfront he didn’t shy away from any issue that’s why this is so shocking,” she says.
On whether she had any indication that Bourdain, who was open about his struggle with drug addiction in the past, was using again, Reynolds explains, “No not at all. He was just so happy with the work. He was so proud. You could see in the show itself how happy he is in the whole episode.”
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On Sunday, just two days after Bourdain’s death, CNN will air the new episode of Parts Unknown set in Berlin.
“When Berlin airs Anderson Cooper is going to give an introduction before the episode airs. They were good friends,” Reynolds says, adding that Bourdain’s CNN colleagues are also understandably shocked.
“No one can understand it. When a 61-year-old dies and somebody as vibrant as Tony, it’s so shocking and devastating which is what everybody says but it’s the truth,” Reynolds says.
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Anthony Bourdain Rich Fury/Invision/AP/REX/Shutterstock
The cause of death for celebrity chef and CNN's "Parts Unknown" host, Anthony Bourdain, has been revealed.
According to the prosecutor of Colmar in France's Alsace region, Bourdain hanged himself in the bathroom of his French hotel room.
Prosecutor Christian de Rocquigny told The Associated Press on Saturday that the famed chef and host of the CNN series "Parts Unknown" used the belt of his hotel bath robe to commit suicide on Friday.
Of the 61-year-old star's death, Rocquigny said "there is no element that makes us suspect that someone came into the room at any moment." He also said a medical expert had concluded there were no signs of violence on Bourdain's body.
The prosecutor said toxicology tests were being carried out, including urine tests, to see if Bourdain took any medications, to try to help his family understand if anything led him to kill himself.
On Friday, Bourdain was found dead of an apparent suicide in his hotel room. He was 61.
"It is with extraordinary sadness we can confirm the death of our friend and colleague, Anthony Bourdain," CNN said in a statement. "His love of great adventure, new friends, fine food and drink and the remarkable stories of the world made him a unique storyteller. His talents never ceased to amaze us and we will miss him very much. Our thoughts and prayers are with his daughter and family at this incredibly difficult time."
Bourdain's girlfriend, Italian actress Asia Argento, said in another statement, "Anthony gave all of himself in everything that he did. His brilliant, fearless spirit touched and inspired so many, and his generosity knew no bounds. He was my love, my rock, my protector. I am beyond devastated. My thoughts are with his family. I would ask that you respect their privacy and mine," Argento tweeted Friday.
The news of Bourdain's death comes after fashion designer Kate Spade died Tuesday after hanging herself in her New York City apartment.
Bourdain's death follows an alarming string of celebrity hanging suicide deaths in recent years.
The Associated Press and Fox News' Sasha Savitsky contributed to this report.
PARIS — The prosecutor of Colmar in France’s Alsace region says that writer and celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain hanged himself in the bathroom of his French hotel room.
Prosecutor Christian de Rocquigny told The Associated Press on Saturday that the famed chef and host of the CNN series “Parts Unknown” used the belt of his hotel bath robe to commit suicide on Friday.
Of the 61-year-old American’s death, Rocquigny said “there is no element that makes us suspect that someone came into the room at any moment.” He also said a medical expert had concluded there were no signs of violence on Bourdain’s body.
The prosecutor said toxicology tests were being carried out, including urine tests, to see if Bourdain took any medications, to try to help his family understand if anything led him to kill himself.
Chef, storyteller and Emmy-winner Anthony Bourdain has died at the age of 61. CNN's Anderson Cooper looks back on his friend and colleague's extraordinary life.
