Asia Argento: “Social media accused me of my boyfriend’s suicide and deleted me from TV”

Asia Argento talks about her experience: “I was accused of my boyfriend's suicide, and a month later I was no longer a judge X Factor.

His words will be broadcast tonight, September 26, in the episode of Donne sull'orlo di una crisi di nervi, hosted by Piero Chiambretti on RaiTre, as anticipated by Leggo. The actress shares her reflection: "If I think and speak, they erase me."

Argento cites the Oscar-winning film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, explaining that his life resembles a film in which “if I think and speak, they erase me.” He is referring to cancel culture, the phenomenon that seeks to eliminate works or people who go against political correctness. “I am one of those people. In the United States, I have been erased.”

The actress explains that it all started with the suicide of her partner, Anthony Bourdain, celebrity chef and traveler, in 2018. “Public opinion blamed me for his death. They said we were in a fling, and it didn’t matter that we were an open couple. They chose me as a scapegoat to make sense of such an inexplicable death. They accused me of breaking his heart, and on social media there were thousands of people who claimed that my death would be the only justice for Anthony. Hundreds of people called me a ‘murderer,’ while I was devastated by guilt for not being able to understand his pain and save him.”

Argento’s story is powerful. She reveals that CNN removed all episodes of Bourdain’s show that she wrote and directed, in which she appeared. “They not only deleted my work, but also a significant part of my personal life. So I became the one to be deleted. I never worked in the United States again.”

The consequences of this situation also spread to Italy. “A month later I was no longer a judge on X Factor. All to satisfy the thirst for public morality. I felt like I was dying, but something bigger saved me, and it wasn’t religion or philosophy, but trashy TV. My story attracted morbid interest and telling it on various talk shows for about a year was more profitable than X Factor. I would have preferred to avoid it, but I had no other sources of income or support. It took time to detach myself from all this and go back to being an actress, which is my real job. Then a program came along where my freedom of expression is respected, without censorship. That’s why I’m so grateful to be here today.”