Anthony Bourdain Says The Way The Press Is Treating His Girlfriend Over The Weinstein Accusations Is "Disgusting"

Anthony Bourdain isn't holding back his feelings about sexual harassment and "meathead culture."

In a new interview with Slate's Isaac Chotiner, the chef talked about the way the Italian press has covered news about his girlfriend, Asia Argento. In an interview with Ronan Farrow for The New Yorker, Argento claimed that Harvey Weinstein forced oral sex on her. Argento recently fled Italy after her home country's press published various victim-blaming pieces about her allegations.

"Look, I've seen the way Asia has been treated in her home country by the press, and it is disgusting and dismaying and discouraging. You understand why people don't report these things. When you see what even now, today, what people say. What they would have said on Day One and what they are saying all these years later when women find the strength to be honest. I've seen that, and I've really fucking seen it, and of course it makes me angry," Bourdain told the publication.

Bourdain also reflected on his book, Kitchen Confidential, and how he may have contributed to what he calls "meathead culture," which includes allegations of sexual harassment in the restaurant business.

"I would go to signings a few years after Kitchen Confidential came out, and people would come up to me, mostly guys, they'd high-five me over the table with one hand and slide me a packet of cocaine with the other. And it was like dude, have you not read the book? What the fuck is wrong with you?" Bourdain said to Slate. "I've had to ask myself, and I have been for some time, 'To what extent in that book did I provide validation to meatheads?'"

The interview also includes the chef's reflections about why he sees it as a "personal failing" that he wasn't seen as a "natural ally" for women who've experienced harassment in his industry. The full interview is worth a read — hopefully other men will follow Bourdain's lead and speak out as well.

If you have experienced sexual violence and are in need of crisis support, please call the RAINN Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

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