Paula Deen Faces Backlash After Dissing Anthony Bourdain

Butter Queen Paula Deen had some harsh things to say about deceased Anthony Bourdain in a recent documentary, "Canceled: The Paula Deen Story." "I felt like he didn't like anybody. Not even himself, maybe," she says about Bourdain in the doc. If her dig is a reference to Bourdain's suicide at age 61, it's a rather low blow and an oversimplification of a complicated issue.

Another dig from the doc gets at his adventurous eating: "I don't know what he was off in these foreign countries eating. Bat brains, or something like that. I think I'll just stick with my fried chicken." Here, she not only dismisses Bourdain's open-mindedness but also entire cultures that see food differently from her.

Bourdain's philosophy on eating foods from other cultures that are foreign to him puts the difference between the two in stark contrast, as stated on his show, "No Reservations:" "Lesson one as a traveler: Food given as a gesture of hospitality is always gratefully accepted, always, because no matter how weird or horrible it may seem to you, for someone else, it's their means of subsistence." While bat brains was never on the menu, Bourdain did have a history of eating foods adventurous to the American palate.

Understandably, Bourdain's fans are upset. On X, one user posted, "Why do people everyone hates always feel the need to tell us their opinion[?]" while another said they'd trade her for Bourdain. And over on Reddit, in reference to her bat brains comment, a user called her xenophobic.

Anthony Bourdain was the one to start the beef between the celebrity chefs. In 2011, he told "TV Guide Magazine," "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." He was often critical of her work with drug companies. While Bourdain was not one to shy away from hyperbole, these were harsh words that evidently hurt Deen.

In a chat with longtime friend and fellow chef, Eric Ripert, Bourdain looked inward on his feud with Paula Deen. His self-reflection concludes with a shot at Deen, saying, "Maybe it's an argument with myself, why can't I do that, why can't I just endorse a whole bunch of cynical crap?"