Anthony Bourdain's 'Scary' Hate Mail From Deen Fans
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Don't mess with Paula Deen fans. In an interview with Rolling Stone this month, "No Reservations" chef Anthony Bourdain admitted to receiving "scary" threats after publicly disapproving of Deen's lifestyle.
"A year ago, before she announced that she has diabetes, I dared to suggest that the food she was advocating was dangerous for you, and I received a lot of scary mail and Facebook posts," the 56-year-old Bourdain said. "It was the first time I've ever been frightened."
"I don't know what my problem is, honestly," he said. "Why can't I just live and let live? It's a personal failing."
In January, Deen admitted that she had been diagnosed with diabetes and announced a partnership with pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk.
Bourdain publicly criticized 64-year-old Deen in January via Twitter: "Thinking of getting into the leg-breaking business, so I can profitably sell crutches later."
"She's being very good at playing the victim. Let's call it what it is. This is big company that rolled out a new product, a diabetes drug, [with someone who was] selling doughnuts to children for years. I thought it was in bad taste, I made some cracks about it, and I walked into the whirlwind," he told ABC News.
Deen responded to the backlash in May's issue of Prevention, saying, "I thought, Oh my gosh, what hospital did he just get out of?… People out there with diabetes haven't chosen this. It's not their fault. I thought that was very, very cruel."