As the world reels over Friday’s news of Anthony Bourdain’s suicide, his friends, family, and fans are all using social media to remember the fallen chef. And WWE’s Titus O’Neil was one of them.
O’Neil and Bourdain struck up a friendship last summer after the No Reservations star “signed” with Titus World Wide. While that may have been a facetious agreement, Bourdain and O’Neil’s relationship was genuine.
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“My Heart is saddened to hear the news of my friend Anthony Bourdain. He was Always a pleasure to talk to and I appreciated the Friend he allowed me to be to him and his close loved ones. Prayers to the family and friends of this phenomenal storyteller,” O’Neil wrote on Instagram.
Bourdain kept a distant admiration of WWE and professional wrestling. In a 2014 Instagram post, he detailed his first experience sitting amongst a WWE crowd.
“I went because my daughter and her friend think WWE is awesome. But, God help me, I had a rollicking good time. That was some hilariously awesome, cheesy, over the top, campy, physically impressive showboating . And the initially scary looking audience are so in to it you can’t help but be..,well…charmed. Here, the amazing, often airborne Uso Brothers do what they do so well. America! F— Yeah!”
Bourdain was found unresponsive in his Franc hotel room on Friday morning. CNN was the first to break the news.
“It is with extraordinary sadness we can confirm the death of our friend and colleague, Anthony Bourdain,” the release read. “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 was traveling for his CNN show, Parts Unknown.
“Tony was an exceptional talent,” CNN President Jeff Zucker said in a statement to employees. “Tony will be greatly missed not only for his work but also for the passion with which he did it.”
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