I’m still in mourning for Anthony Bourdain, so this new flare-up with his lady friend, Asia Agento, really has my interest.
She allegedly, in 2013 sexually assaulted fellow actor, Jimmy Bennett, when he was 17 and she, 37.
She denies the claim.
Ms. Argento was also one of the first to confront producer, Harvey Weinstein, for sexually assaulting her, becoming a chief voice in the #metoo movement, a cause Mr. Bourdain publicly championed.
It’s been reported she paid Mr. Bennett, a financial settlement of 380.000 dollars.
But here’s the part that took me by surprise. It was Anthony who paid the sum.
Ms. Argento said in a statement that Mr. Bennett was in trouble financially and she knew Mr. Bourdain feared the publicity that the claim might bring, and suggested the matter be handled privately.
“We decided to deal compassionately with Bennett’s demand for help and give it to him,” Ms. Argento wrote. “Anthony personally undertook to help Bennett economically, upon the condition that we would no longer suffer any further intrusions in our life.”
Really Asia? That’s quite an amount for just helping out a poor, impoverished peer you never want to hear from again.
The whole sordid tale has thrown me, but have since thought it through, why Anthony didn’t just walk away from the Italian Anne Boleyn.
He was an addict, something he was very candid about, and the thing about addiction is, it never goes away, but lies dormant like cancer cells that could be reactivated at any moment. Asia was his new drug of choice–beautiful, sexual–therefore when he discovered this tawdry allegation, he put up the hush money, like posting bail for your dealer.
But he knows, because addicts are smart, the truth will somehow come out, like it has, and then what? What will this do their relationship, not to mention his young daughter and his award winning show he’s worked so hard to make thrive.
A day or so before Anthony took his life, there were pictures of Asia holding hands with a young man, that he may or may not have seen.
All I know is, at 61, 19 years her senior, probably feeling too old to keep this lusty lady happy, and unable to give her up, he only saw one way out, and that was by way of the hereafter.
It’s only a theory, but alas, a sad, sound one.
Addiction is menacing, doesn’t matter what you’ve managed to kick–heroin, booze, opiates, or a woman you can’t trust, there’s always another lurking in the wings.
Oh Anthony, if only you had made another choice. 
SB
That is a sad bit of news. I hadn’t made the connection.
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The story just broke, or are you referring to Anthony’s passing.
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No, I meant the connection you were referring to. I knew about his suicide.
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Yeah, it’s all over the internet and really is disturbing on so many levels. This whole sex phenomenon from priests to producers, actors, news casters has taken on a life of its own. I have little interest in her with the exception of how this scandal taints him. It’s all so wrong.
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I tend to ignore all of that. People have been behaving badly since forever. Seems unlikely to change.
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That’s true, but now it’s in our face, like a big obnoxious pie.
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Susannah, you added quite a bit of info I didn’t know. And hmmm, me thinks your theory is very plausible. As for Asia, talk about the pot calling the kettle black!
I enjoyed Anthony and am sorry he couldn’t enjoy his life as much he should have. We all have our demons, some more powerful than others.
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Well said Skinny. Did she really think it wouldn’t come out? Truth is persistent. Slow, but mighty.
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I hadn’t realized they were together, but now that I look on Google, there are a lot of pictures of them together. Such a sad story all the way around.
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She’s very beautiful and he was quite handsome I always thought. He reminded me of an old fashioned fella… a highwayman or a gunslinger coming into town. Yes, it’s so, so sad all the way around.
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It seems to be the week for a lot of liars liars FINALLY having their pants set on fire on fire. I swear it feels like the truth is stuck in traffic in a river of molasses, but I must say, her entrance is always worth the wait.
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Agreed. So ugly, the whole bag’a tricks, so to speak.
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