Before he took his own life last month, Anthony Bourdain had been personally involved in the #MeToo issue because he was dating actress Asia Argento. Argento is one of several women who have accused disgraced mogul Harvey Weinstein of rape. Back in February, Bourdain gave an interview to a site called Popula.com which the site published Sunday. In that interview, Bourdain had some harsh words for Bill and Hillary Clinton.
When Hillary Clinton responded to the Weinstein allegations last October, Bourdain tweeted that he found her remarks shameful:
And I have to say, Hillary's interview with Fareed Zakaria was shameful in its deflection and its disingenuousness.
— Anthony Bourdain (@Bourdain) October 11, 2017
know what Hillary Clinton is NOT? She's not stupid. Or unsophisticated about the world. The Weinstein stories had been out there for years
— Anthony Bourdain (@Bourdain) October 11, 2017
Hillary is CLEARLY not responsible for anything Weinstein Thats screamingly obvious. Her response to questions though has been uninspiring
— Anthony Bourdain (@Bourdain) October 12, 2017
That eventually led to an exchange about the Clintons’ own skeletons. Bourdain maintained that Bill should not have been removed from office over the Lewinsky scandal, but suggested the Clintons discredited themselves in the way they went after Bill’s accusers:
Should we have gotten rid of Bill Clinton after the Lewinsky scandal?
No.
Really?!
Bill Clinton, look, the bimbo eruptions—it was fucking monstrous. That would not have flown today. A piece of shit. Entitled, rapey, gropey, grabby, disgusting, and the way that he—and she—destroyed these women and the way that everyone went along, and, and are blind to this! Screamingly apparent hypocrisy and venality. How you can on the one hand howl at the moon about all these other predators. And not at least look back. OK, let’s say, well, it was all consensual: powerful men, starstruck women, okay fine, let’s accept it at its most charitable interpretation. Fine. He is a very charming man, I met him, he’s fucking magnetic.
Wow, yeah. I’ve never seen anything like him.
As is she. When you’re in the room, you think wow, she’s really warm and nice and funny. But the way they efficiently dismantled, destroyed, and shamelessly discredited these women for speaking their truth.
Yeah.
… is unforgivable.
Bourdain added, “It was the shaming, discrediting, undermining the women that made both of them unsuitable for any future endeavors.” Yet despite saying that, Bourdain says elsewhere in the interview that he voted for Hillary for President. I’m not sure how he thought he could square that circle. If her behavior was unforgivable and made her “unsuitable for future endeavors” why did he vote for her? It’s an interesting contradiction that the interviewer didn’t ask him about.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member