Longtime friends and coworkers, including Don Lemon, Christiane Amanpour and Wolf Blitzer, paid tribute to theAnthony Bourdain: Parts Unknownhost who died at the age of 61 of anapparent suicidein France.
Anderson Cooperalso appeared on the special, choking up as he expressed “shock, confusion and sadness that a man who was seemingly having the ride of his life in the middle of his life has now suddenly reached the end of his life.”
Cooper, who also dedicated his entire 8 p.m.Anderon Cooper 360broadcast to Bourdain, added, “He loved and was loved in return.”
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“Honestly, talking about him in the past tense it’s, it’s really — yeah, it’s really hard to — hard to imagine,” he said as he held back tears.
“But certainly, you know, the pain he must have been feeling, at least in that moment or in those moments, and the loneliness he must be feeling it’s just terribly sad to think about. And makes me very sad for him to have — to have a succumbed to that,” he shared.
Cooper also told viewers, “He gave me hope for what one’s life can become, can be at 61.”
CNN
New Dayco-anchor John Berman also told viewers at the beginning of the special tribute that many at CNN received the news in the early morning hours as Berman said he found out about Bourdain’s death at 4:45 a.m.
During Friday’s salute,Newsroomhost Brooke Baldwin broke down in tears as she said, “Losing Tony was losing a member of our family, our CNN family.”
WATCH: Remembering Anthony Bourdain’s Illustrious Life and Career
And it was announced on Sunday, just two days after Bourdain’s death, CNN will air a new episode ofParts Unknownset in Berlin.
“When Berlin airs Anderson Cooper is going to give an introduction before the episode airs. They were good friends,”Karen Reynolds, director of CNN PR and Bourdain’s longtime publicist forParts Unknown,confirmed to PEOPLE.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text “help” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or go tosuicidepreventionlifeline.org.
source: people.com
