Actor Val Kilmer has faced backlash after calling celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain’s suicide selfish.
Bourdain, a television host and social activist, was found dead in a hotel room in Paris at the age of 61 on Friday.
“How many moments away were you from feeling the love that was universal,” Kilmer began the lengthy post on Facebook.
“From every corner of the world you were loved. So selfish. You’ve given us cause to be so angry. A spiritual guide once told me suicide is the most selfish act a human can execute and I was confused but she explained there’s just no mental place further away from humanity and purpose than the hypnotised numbness that creates the false picture of despair, that forces the victim, unaware, to believe, life’s legacy is over.”
The actor questioned how the chef’s reported suicide happened.
“Did you relapse? Did you just get home from the best meal of your life? Did you cheat on your girl?” Kilmer asked.
“Those of us that knew you are shocked and angry and angry and angry selfishly angry, for what you just did to us,” he continued.
Referencing his two-year battle with throat cancer, the actor added: “Would you have taken your life two years ago when like me you were unable to take in food and move it with your tongue over your taste buds because your tongue was too swollen? Is too swollen?”
“You left too soon. And I’m going to prove it,” Kilmer concluded.
The post received mixed responses, with one blasting the actor saying: “To imply your illness is worse is clueless and insensitive ... people are continuing to die from mental health-related issues yet you, like many, think or imply we need to just think happy thoughts.”
Another replied: “Suicide has nothing to do with selfishness ... Stop adding to the stigma, please. You never know what is happening in someone else’s mind.”
