Anthony Bourdain Swimming Naked in the Pool

It’s been quite the controversial year for the No Reservations host Anthony Bourdain. First he goes off and bad-mouths Paula Deen. Then a picture controversy, which he was savvy enough to avoid too many repercussions for.

First thing’s first. Bourdain publicly insulted Paula Deen on his show. Being a nation that loves drama more than anything, we gobbled it up and started a huge controversy. Some may blame the media, but who didn’t know what I was talking about? The media wouldn’t print it if we didn’t accept it. Here’s what Bourdain said:

"The worst, most dangerous person to America is clearly Paula Deen. She revels in unholy connections with evil corporations and she's proud of the fact that her food is f---ing bad for you. If I were on at seven at night and loved by millions of people at every age, I would think twice before telling an already obese nation that it's OK to eat food that is killing us. Plus, her food sucks."

The dispute that ensued lasted for way too long if you ask me. But I read all about it. Also, Bourdain does reach millions of people, which puts my next topic into context.

The next big controversy for Bourdain was a certain picture that surfaced from Bourdain’s ex-wife, Nancy Putkoski. The pictures shows Bourdain lounging naked in a pool with a beer in-hand. In order to diffuse the situation, Bourdain tweeted, “I look good! Nice tan. As I haven’t seen the photos without the star, I can only hope the water wasn’t too cold that day.” Great strategy, rather than try and deny it, Bourdain embraced the situation and cast himself in a positive light. Or as positive as he possibly could under the given circumstance. 

The whole situation really amazes me. Here’s a man that under normal standards would be considered a terrible person. There are certain societal mores that we, normal people, have to abide by. Yet this man disregards those mores completely. Not only that, his book, Kitchen Confidential, is a best-seller, his show is very successful and now he has a new show called The Layover, which will no doubt also be a smashing success.

Seriously? I thought Gordon Ramsay had already cornered the “jerked meat” market.

What’s the deal with the entertainment industry? Should celebrities also abide by the same rules we do? Should they be treated differently just for our entertainment?