Funeral plans for Anthony Bourdain have been temporarily placed on hold as the celebrity chef’s body has yet to be flown back to the U.S. from France.
The CNN star’s mom, Gladys Bourdain, told the New York Post‘s Page Six on Sunday, June 10, that the family is waiting on the French government in order to make the final arrangements.
“They won’t be shipping his remains back for a couple of days because of formalities,” Gladys told Page Six.
As previously reported, the Parts Unknown host, 61, was found unresponsive in his room at the Le Chambard hotel in France by his friend and fellow chef Eric Ripert. French authorities later confirmed Bourdain’s cause of death as suicide, revealing he’d used a belt from a hotel bathrobe to hang himself and that there was no evidence of foul play.
Gladys told Page Six that Bourdain’s estranged wife, Ottavia Busia, is handling the funeral plans because she is still legally his next of kin.
“Although they’re separated, she’ll be in charge of whatever happens,” she said. “We haven’t talked for a couple days. I’m sure she’s as broken up as I am.”
The former No Reservations host and Busia were married for nine years before splitting in 2016 and shared daughter Ariane, 11. He was dating actress and director Asia Argento at the time of his death.
Bourdain’s mother said in an interview with The New York Times on Friday that there had been no indication that her son had been contemplating suicide.
“He is absolutely the last person in the world I would have ever dreamed would do something like this,” she said.
Ripert, who was in France to film an upcoming episode of Parts Unknown with Bourdain, told Gladys that “Tony had been in a dark mood” in the days leading up to his death.
If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or considering suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
