What's your favorite celebrity mystery or secret scandal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anthony Bourdain's suicide.

It is so hard to believe that a successful 61 year old who had surmounted so much in his life, would impulsively hang himself just before a planned dinner with a dear friend and his colleagues while in a hotel overseas.

More importantly, he had a minor daughter whom he loved dearly and a good coparenting relationship with her mother.

IMO, I think it was a case of autoerotic asphyxiation. I think his freewheeling and "open" relationship with Asia Argento may have had something to do with it. It seems he went off the rails a bit after he met her.

Perhaps he was introduced or encouraged to use asphyxiation and it went terribly wrong for him. He was always looking for new and exciting food experiences, why not sexual?

From what I read about him, he was suicidal for a lot of his life. So it was amazing that he made it as long as he did. But yeah, Asia Argento was the catalyst, and she’s pretty terrible. I feel bad for his kid and ex-wife.

It just seems like such an odd way/place to do it. Especially if you want to be "successful." Using a terry cloth bathrobe belt from a hotel's closet rod seems a bad choice for a guy who was pretty intelligent and street-smart. Knots loosen, fabric could rip, or rod could snap/bend under the weight. He would have certainly been taller than the clothes rod. Choosing to do it while being overseas in a hotel room seems off too.

He was expected for dinner and his absence meant there was a good likelihood he might have been either interrupted or found and resuscitated. It seems like an erudite guy like Bourdain might have considered those factors. That's why I think it may have been an auto-erotic thing gone wrong, which is not unheard of for male celebrities.

Hey, I was just thinking about INXS singer Michael Hutchence, who I beleived had died in an act of autoerotic asphyxiation, but appears that is not true. I just read up on it. Hutchence was in a very dramatic relationship with Paula Yates and had drug abuse problems. Also he was distraught over child custody issues, and was upset that he wasn't going to get an expected visit with his daughter. He hung himself with a belt alone in his hotel room.

The autoerotic asphyxiation idea came from Paula, who was apparently in denial over the suicide. She died of a heroin overdose in 2000. Her ex Bob Geldof raised Hutchence and Paula's daughter Tiger alongside the 4 daughters he had with Paula.

Anyway, I was surprised by the parallels between Anthony and Michael. Both had struggled with drugs and depression. Both were in fairly new and very dramatic relationships. Both took their life in a hotel room by hanging.

Yet without a note or other direct evidence of bona fide suicide there is still an element of doubt simply because there ARE cases of death by asphyxiation - and many families may not want that information exposed. That's why I think the Bourdain case fits the "Favorite Celebrity Mystery" title of this thread.

I would imagine Bourdain had a significant life insurance policy and wonder if the company flat-out refused payment under the suicide clause. However, if it was eventually ruled as accidental asphyxiation it might have bearing on the pay out.

I have more thoughts about your last paragraph. I do believe that life insurance payouts become more relevant if the deceased is poorer. Let's say a father makes $100k and his family is dependent on that money, the life insurance is very important. Questions of suicide or accident are hot if the family needs the money badly.

Bourdain died with just over $1 million. You would think it would be more. However. Dude only became a star in the last 20+/- years of his life, before that, he was a paycheck-to-paycheck kitchen cook. Then he wasn't used to having money, didn't necessarily respect the money. Maybe even disrespected the money. Who knows of he even had life insurance.

He did however have a will that set up a trust for his daughter, and so she is set.

I was shocked by his death, generally, but I was also really surprised by this. 61 years old and worth 1 million? A govt employee that age likely has that money. Why was it not a LOT more and what's the trust for his daughter and how is she "set"?

I think he did. It is almost a certainty he had insurance as part of his contract with the network. He was technically "on the job" even though cause of death was questionable. Plus, I find it hard to believe that any financial advisor (or even his ex-wife as part of divorce/child maintenance) didn't have a conversation with him about insurance for his daughter.

Like I said, he was a pretty smart guy. He KNEW if he committed suicide that insurance wouldn't pay out, neither his employer's nor his own. I could see him getting in a little sports car and "accidentally" hitting a tree at full speed. But the method he used was so fraught with problems, the primary being no insurance pay out, that I still think his death is a mystery.

The way he did it is a mystery. “Medium Raw” — After the breakup of his marriage to Nancy and before he met Ottavia, he was at loose ends. He was on St. Martin, this mountainous island in the Caribbean he always liked to go to. Late one night after many drinks, he was driving on the mountain road, and there’s a big turn on the cliff, and he started to drive right toward the edge of the cliff. At the last minute, The Chamber Brothers came on the radio, with “The Time Has Come Today,” and something about it made him swerve and not drive off the cliff."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anthony Bourdain's suicide.

It is so hard to believe that a successful 61 year old who had surmounted so much in his life, would impulsively hang himself just before a planned dinner with a dear friend and his colleagues while in a hotel overseas.

More importantly, he had a minor daughter whom he loved dearly and a good coparenting relationship with her mother.

IMO, I think it was a case of autoerotic asphyxiation. I think his freewheeling and "open" relationship with Asia Argento may have had something to do with it. It seems he went off the rails a bit after he met her.

Perhaps he was introduced or encouraged to use asphyxiation and it went terribly wrong for him. He was always looking for new and exciting food experiences, why not sexual?

From what I read about him, he was suicidal for a lot of his life. So it was amazing that he made it as long as he did. But yeah, Asia Argento was the catalyst, and she’s pretty terrible. I feel bad for his kid and ex-wife.

It just seems like such an odd way/place to do it. Especially if you want to be "successful." Using a terry cloth bathrobe belt from a hotel's closet rod seems a bad choice for a guy who was pretty intelligent and street-smart. Knots loosen, fabric could rip, or rod could snap/bend under the weight. He would have certainly been taller than the clothes rod. Choosing to do it while being overseas in a hotel room seems off too.

He was expected for dinner and his absence meant there was a good likelihood he might have been either interrupted or found and resuscitated. It seems like an erudite guy like Bourdain might have considered those factors. That's why I think it may have been an auto-erotic thing gone wrong, which is not unheard of for male celebrities.

Hey, I was just thinking about INXS singer Michael Hutchence, who I beleived had died in an act of autoerotic asphyxiation, but appears that is not true. I just read up on it. Hutchence was in a very dramatic relationship with Paula Yates and had drug abuse problems. Also he was distraught over child custody issues, and was upset that he wasn't going to get an expected visit with his daughter. He hung himself with a belt alone in his hotel room.

The autoerotic asphyxiation idea came from Paula, who was apparently in denial over the suicide. She died of a heroin overdose in 2000. Her ex Bob Geldof raised Hutchence and Paula's daughter Tiger alongside the 4 daughters he had with Paula.

Anyway, I was surprised by the parallels between Anthony and Michael. Both had struggled with drugs and depression. Both were in fairly new and very dramatic relationships. Both took their life in a hotel room by hanging.

Yet without a note or other direct evidence of bona fide suicide there is still an element of doubt simply because there ARE cases of death by asphyxiation - and many families may not want that information exposed. That's why I think the Bourdain case fits the "Favorite Celebrity Mystery" title of this thread.

I would imagine Bourdain had a significant life insurance policy and wonder if the company flat-out refused payment under the suicide clause. However, if it was eventually ruled as accidental asphyxiation it might have bearing on the pay out.

I have more thoughts about your last paragraph. I do believe that life insurance payouts become more relevant if the deceased is poorer. Let's say a father makes $100k and his family is dependent on that money, the life insurance is very important. Questions of suicide or accident are hot if the family needs the money badly.

Bourdain died with just over $1 million. You would think it would be more. However. Dude only became a star in the last 20+/- years of his life, before that, he was a paycheck-to-paycheck kitchen cook. Then he wasn't used to having money, didn't necessarily respect the money. Maybe even disrespected the money. Who knows of he even had life insurance.

He did however have a will that set up a trust for his daughter, and so she is set.

I was shocked by his death, generally, but I was also really surprised by this. 61 years old and worth 1 million? A govt employee that age likely has that money. Why was it not a LOT more and what's the trust for his daughter and how is she "set"?

I think he did. It is almost a certainty he had insurance as part of his contract with the network. He was technically "on the job" even though cause of death was questionable. Plus, I find it hard to believe that any financial advisor (or even his ex-wife as part of divorce/child maintenance) didn't have a conversation with him about insurance for his daughter.

Like I said, he was a pretty smart guy. He KNEW if he committed suicide that insurance wouldn't pay out, neither his employer's nor his own. I could see him getting in a little sports car and "accidentally" hitting a tree at full speed. But the method he used was so fraught with problems, the primary being no insurance pay out, that I still think his death is a mystery.

The way he did it is a mystery. “Medium Raw” — After the breakup of his marriage to Nancy and before he met Ottavia, he was at loose ends. He was on St. Martin, this mountainous island in the Caribbean he always liked to go to. Late one night after many drinks, he was driving on the mountain road, and there’s a big turn on the cliff, and he started to drive right toward the edge of the cliff. At the last minute, The Chamber Brothers came on the radio, with “The Time Has Come Today,” and something about it made him swerve and not drive off the cliff."

I'd say it's not a mystery. He hung himself with the belt of his bathrobe.

May 2005 Interview with 8 Days Magazine “If I had to make a show called The Naked Chef, I'd
hang myself.”

March 2012 Interview with Food Republic: “I'm not Michael Pollan. I'm not out there addressing
sustainable agriculture in this country in a serious way. A silent room for five minutes, I may as
well hang myself.”

May 2013 Parts Unknown, Season 1, Episode 4 (Quebec): “At no point in my cooking career could
I have worked with one of these (an electric stove) without murdering everyone in the vicinity
before hanging myself from the nearest beam”.

August 2005 No Reservations, Season 1, Episode 2 (Iceland - Hello Darkness My Old Friend): “You
wake up, feeling like you're not sure whether you want to curl up into a fetal ball, start crying,
projectile vomit, or hang yourself in the shower.”

November 2005 No Reservations, Season 1, Episode 9 (New Zealand): “Generally after these
events I want to hang myself in the shower stall, and tonight's no different.”

January 2009 No Reservations, Season 5, Episode 4 (Azores): “Oh boy, just saved from a
poisonous blowhole-inspired bout of depression and self-loathing by the healing powers of pork.
I determine not to hang myself in the shower stall of my lonely hotel room.”

July 2009 No Reservations, Season 5, Episode 13 (Rust Belt): “The painful story of my life and less
than distinguished career ended up as five episodes of a sitcom on Fox, at the end of which I'd
pretty much wanted to hang myself in the shower.”

January 2010 Milwaukee WI Riverside Theater appearance: “If I had to be him for five hours, I'd
hang myself in a shower stall.”

March 2015 Peabody Awards Interview: “I said 'No. I'm just not going to do it. I can't do it. You
know, I'll hang myself in the shower stall if I do that for a week'.”

October 2015 Interview with FirstWeEat: “I'd rather hang myself in the shower than go to work
thinking that. Doing the same thing every single week because it works... that's hell.”

May 2016 Interview with Food and Wine magazine: “... but we have the freedom to look into the
camera and say ... “I am so depressed right now I just want to hang myself in the shower.”

June 2016 Interview with AdWeek: “Jesus. Let me go hang myself in the shower now. Oh my God,
it would be just so appalling.”

October 2016 Interview with Vogue magazine: ''If it feels like a Todd English product, then we
can all just go home and throw a noose over the f****** shower stall.''

December 2016 Interview on NPRs Wait Wait Don't Tell Me (It's Not My Job): “If any one of those
answers are correct, I'm going to go hang myself in the shower.”

April 2017 Interview with Mic (digital media company): “If I'm in any way responsible or seen as
supportive of 'bro cuisine' I mean, it makes me just want to hang myself in the shower thinking
about it.”

October 2017 Post-credit trailer from Wasted! The Story of Food Waste (2017), a video
documentary narrated and co-produced by Anthony Bourdain: “The more people that watch this
film and would have immediately gone and hung themselves in the shower out of guilt, the happier
I'd be.”

May 2006 About traveling with his TV production crew for “Cooks Tour” (from Nasty Bits): “...
we've been softened up by countless 'hang-yourself-in-the-shower-stall' hotel rooms.”

August 2000 Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential: “If an unexpected period of
unemployment inspires you to leap off a bridge, hang yourself from a tree or chug-a-lug a quart
of drain cleaner, that's too bad.”

April 2004 Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook: “If you can't properly roast a damn chicken
then you are one helpless, hopeless, sorry-ass bivalve in an apron. Take that apron off, wrap it
around your neck, and hang yourself.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Re: Tom Cruise

When Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes started dating, I had a friend in the entertainment industry who told me the following:
Apparently everyone in Hollywood knows Tom Cruise is gay. He auditioned women to be his wife and picked Katie Holmes. They both had movies coming out and their relationship would help with publicity (Katie Holmes was not getting such amazing reviews from Batman Begins!). They had a 6 year contract.

Lo and behold, after 6 years, they got divorced!

This. There was no divorce scheme, her father didn’t rescue her, she didn’t escape. Her contract ended as planned.

If it was a planned contract ending, why did it seem so dramatic, like she was escaping in secrecy? I would think that wouldn't have been part of the plan because it makes Tom look bad versus a planned amicable split.

Media. Neither of them have ever spoke about the end of the marriage so this whole escape fantasy was invented. Do you real believe a small town divorce attorney would be capable of battling against Scientology?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anthony Bourdain's suicide.

It is so hard to believe that a successful 61 year old who had surmounted so much in his life, would impulsively hang himself just before a planned dinner with a dear friend and his colleagues while in a hotel overseas.

More importantly, he had a minor daughter whom he loved dearly and a good coparenting relationship with her mother.

IMO, I think it was a case of autoerotic asphyxiation. I think his freewheeling and "open" relationship with Asia Argento may have had something to do with it. It seems he went off the rails a bit after he met her.

Perhaps he was introduced or encouraged to use asphyxiation and it went terribly wrong for him. He was always looking for new and exciting food experiences, why not sexual?

From what I read about him, he was suicidal for a lot of his life. So it was amazing that he made it as long as he did. But yeah, Asia Argento was the catalyst, and she’s pretty terrible. I feel bad for his kid and ex-wife.

It just seems like such an odd way/place to do it. Especially if you want to be "successful." Using a terry cloth bathrobe belt from a hotel's closet rod seems a bad choice for a guy who was pretty intelligent and street-smart. Knots loosen, fabric could rip, or rod could snap/bend under the weight. He would have certainly been taller than the clothes rod. Choosing to do it while being overseas in a hotel room seems off too.

He was expected for dinner and his absence meant there was a good likelihood he might have been either interrupted or found and resuscitated. It seems like an erudite guy like Bourdain might have considered those factors. That's why I think it may have been an auto-erotic thing gone wrong, which is not unheard of for male celebrities.

Hey, I was just thinking about INXS singer Michael Hutchence, who I beleived had died in an act of autoerotic asphyxiation, but appears that is not true. I just read up on it. Hutchence was in a very dramatic relationship with Paula Yates and had drug abuse problems. Also he was distraught over child custody issues, and was upset that he wasn't going to get an expected visit with his daughter. He hung himself with a belt alone in his hotel room.

The autoerotic asphyxiation idea came from Paula, who was apparently in denial over the suicide. She died of a heroin overdose in 2000. Her ex Bob Geldof raised Hutchence and Paula's daughter Tiger alongside the 4 daughters he had with Paula.

Anyway, I was surprised by the parallels between Anthony and Michael. Both had struggled with drugs and depression. Both were in fairly new and very dramatic relationships. Both took their life in a hotel room by hanging.

Yet without a note or other direct evidence of bona fide suicide there is still an element of doubt simply because there ARE cases of death by asphyxiation - and many families may not want that information exposed. That's why I think the Bourdain case fits the "Favorite Celebrity Mystery" title of this thread.

I would imagine Bourdain had a significant life insurance policy and wonder if the company flat-out refused payment under the suicide clause. However, if it was eventually ruled as accidental asphyxiation it might have bearing on the pay out.

I have more thoughts about your last paragraph. I do believe that life insurance payouts become more relevant if the deceased is poorer. Let's say a father makes $100k and his family is dependent on that money, the life insurance is very important. Questions of suicide or accident are hot if the family needs the money badly.

Bourdain died with just over $1 million. You would think it would be more. However. Dude only became a star in the last 20+/- years of his life, before that, he was a paycheck-to-paycheck kitchen cook. Then he wasn't used to having money, didn't necessarily respect the money. Maybe even disrespected the money. Who knows of he even had life insurance.

He did however have a will that set up a trust for his daughter, and so she is set.

I was shocked by his death, generally, but I was also really surprised by this. 61 years old and worth 1 million? A govt employee that age likely has that money. Why was it not a LOT more and what's the trust for his daughter and how is she "set"?

I think he did. It is almost a certainty he had insurance as part of his contract with the network. He was technically "on the job" even though cause of death was questionable. Plus, I find it hard to believe that any financial advisor (or even his ex-wife as part of divorce/child maintenance) didn't have a conversation with him about insurance for his daughter.

Like I said, he was a pretty smart guy. He KNEW if he committed suicide that insurance wouldn't pay out, neither his employer's nor his own. I could see him getting in a little sports car and "accidentally" hitting a tree at full speed. But the method he used was so fraught with problems, the primary being no insurance pay out, that I still think his death is a mystery.

The way he did it is a mystery. “Medium Raw” — After the breakup of his marriage to Nancy and before he met Ottavia, he was at loose ends. He was on St. Martin, this mountainous island in the Caribbean he always liked to go to. Late one night after many drinks, he was driving on the mountain road, and there’s a big turn on the cliff, and he started to drive right toward the edge of the cliff. At the last minute, The Chamber Brothers came on the radio, with “The Time Has Come Today,” and something about it made him swerve and not drive off the cliff."

I'd say it's not a mystery. He hung himself with the belt of his bathrobe.

May 2005 Interview with 8 Days Magazine “If I had to make a show called The Naked Chef, I'd
hang myself.”

March 2012 Interview with Food Republic: “I'm not Michael Pollan. I'm not out there addressing
sustainable agriculture in this country in a serious way. A silent room for five minutes, I may as
well hang myself.”

May 2013 Parts Unknown, Season 1, Episode 4 (Quebec): “At no point in my cooking career could
I have worked with one of these (an electric stove) without murdering everyone in the vicinity
before hanging myself from the nearest beam”.

August 2005 No Reservations, Season 1, Episode 2 (Iceland - Hello Darkness My Old Friend): “You
wake up, feeling like you're not sure whether you want to curl up into a fetal ball, start crying,
projectile vomit, or hang yourself in the shower.”

November 2005 No Reservations, Season 1, Episode 9 (New Zealand): “Generally after these
events I want to hang myself in the shower stall, and tonight's no different.”

January 2009 No Reservations, Season 5, Episode 4 (Azores): “Oh boy, just saved from a
poisonous blowhole-inspired bout of depression and self-loathing by the healing powers of pork.
I determine not to hang myself in the shower stall of my lonely hotel room.”

July 2009 No Reservations, Season 5, Episode 13 (Rust Belt): “The painful story of my life and less
than distinguished career ended up as five episodes of a sitcom on Fox, at the end of which I'd
pretty much wanted to hang myself in the shower.”

January 2010 Milwaukee WI Riverside Theater appearance: “If I had to be him for five hours, I'd
hang myself in a shower stall.”

March 2015 Peabody Awards Interview: “I said 'No. I'm just not going to do it. I can't do it. You
know, I'll hang myself in the shower stall if I do that for a week'.”

October 2015 Interview with FirstWeEat: “I'd rather hang myself in the shower than go to work
thinking that. Doing the same thing every single week because it works... that's hell.”

May 2016 Interview with Food and Wine magazine: “... but we have the freedom to look into the
camera and say ... “I am so depressed right now I just want to hang myself in the shower.”

June 2016 Interview with AdWeek: “Jesus. Let me go hang myself in the shower now. Oh my God,
it would be just so appalling.”

October 2016 Interview with Vogue magazine: ''If it feels like a Todd English product, then we
can all just go home and throw a noose over the f****** shower stall.''

December 2016 Interview on NPRs Wait Wait Don't Tell Me (It's Not My Job): “If any one of those
answers are correct, I'm going to go hang myself in the shower.”

April 2017 Interview with Mic (digital media company): “If I'm in any way responsible or seen as
supportive of 'bro cuisine' I mean, it makes me just want to hang myself in the shower thinking
about it.”

October 2017 Post-credit trailer from Wasted! The Story of Food Waste (2017), a video
documentary narrated and co-produced by Anthony Bourdain: “The more people that watch this
film and would have immediately gone and hung themselves in the shower out of guilt, the happier
I'd be.”

May 2006 About traveling with his TV production crew for “Cooks Tour” (from Nasty Bits): “...
we've been softened up by countless 'hang-yourself-in-the-shower-stall' hotel rooms.”

August 2000 Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential: “If an unexpected period of
unemployment inspires you to leap off a bridge, hang yourself from a tree or chug-a-lug a quart
of drain cleaner, that's too bad.”

April 2004 Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook: “If you can't properly roast a damn chicken
then you are one helpless, hopeless, sorry-ass bivalve in an apron. Take that apron off, wrap it
around your neck, and hang yourself.”

….wow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Re: Tom Cruise

When Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes started dating, I had a friend in the entertainment industry who told me the following:
Apparently everyone in Hollywood knows Tom Cruise is gay. He auditioned women to be his wife and picked Katie Holmes. They both had movies coming out and their relationship would help with publicity (Katie Holmes was not getting such amazing reviews from Batman Begins!). They had a 6 year contract.

Lo and behold, after 6 years, they got divorced!

This. There was no divorce scheme, her father didn’t rescue her, she didn’t escape. Her contract ended as planned.

If it was a planned contract ending, why did it seem so dramatic, like she was escaping in secrecy? I would think that wouldn't have been part of the plan because it makes Tom look bad versus a planned amicable split.

Media. Neither of them have ever spoke about the end of the marriage so this whole escape fantasy was invented. Do you real believe a small town divorce attorney would be capable of battling against Scientology?

I also think they’re both fine. Suri and Katie have a fun life together in NYC (although I detest how the paparazzi keep taking pics of her and her friends), probably in private school and Katie is set financially.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anthony Bourdain's suicide.

It is so hard to believe that a successful 61 year old who had surmounted so much in his life, would impulsively hang himself just before a planned dinner with a dear friend and his colleagues while in a hotel overseas.

More importantly, he had a minor daughter whom he loved dearly and a good coparenting relationship with her mother.

IMO, I think it was a case of autoerotic asphyxiation. I think his freewheeling and "open" relationship with Asia Argento may have had something to do with it. It seems he went off the rails a bit after he met her.

Perhaps he was introduced or encouraged to use asphyxiation and it went terribly wrong for him. He was always looking for new and exciting food experiences, why not sexual?

From what I read about him, he was suicidal for a lot of his life. So it was amazing that he made it as long as he did. But yeah, Asia Argento was the catalyst, and she’s pretty terrible. I feel bad for his kid and ex-wife.

It just seems like such an odd way/place to do it. Especially if you want to be "successful." Using a terry cloth bathrobe belt from a hotel's closet rod seems a bad choice for a guy who was pretty intelligent and street-smart. Knots loosen, fabric could rip, or rod could snap/bend under the weight. He would have certainly been taller than the clothes rod. Choosing to do it while being overseas in a hotel room seems off too.

He was expected for dinner and his absence meant there was a good likelihood he might have been either interrupted or found and resuscitated. It seems like an erudite guy like Bourdain might have considered those factors. That's why I think it may have been an auto-erotic thing gone wrong, which is not unheard of for male celebrities.

Hey, I was just thinking about INXS singer Michael Hutchence, who I beleived had died in an act of autoerotic asphyxiation, but appears that is not true. I just read up on it. Hutchence was in a very dramatic relationship with Paula Yates and had drug abuse problems. Also he was distraught over child custody issues, and was upset that he wasn't going to get an expected visit with his daughter. He hung himself with a belt alone in his hotel room.

The autoerotic asphyxiation idea came from Paula, who was apparently in denial over the suicide. She died of a heroin overdose in 2000. Her ex Bob Geldof raised Hutchence and Paula's daughter Tiger alongside the 4 daughters he had with Paula.

Anyway, I was surprised by the parallels between Anthony and Michael. Both had struggled with drugs and depression. Both were in fairly new and very dramatic relationships. Both took their life in a hotel room by hanging.

Yet without a note or other direct evidence of bona fide suicide there is still an element of doubt simply because there ARE cases of death by asphyxiation - and many families may not want that information exposed. That's why I think the Bourdain case fits the "Favorite Celebrity Mystery" title of this thread.

I would imagine Bourdain had a significant life insurance policy and wonder if the company flat-out refused payment under the suicide clause. However, if it was eventually ruled as accidental asphyxiation it might have bearing on the pay out.

I have more thoughts about your last paragraph. I do believe that life insurance payouts become more relevant if the deceased is poorer. Let's say a father makes $100k and his family is dependent on that money, the life insurance is very important. Questions of suicide or accident are hot if the family needs the money badly.

Bourdain died with just over $1 million. You would think it would be more. However. Dude only became a star in the last 20+/- years of his life, before that, he was a paycheck-to-paycheck kitchen cook. Then he wasn't used to having money, didn't necessarily respect the money. Maybe even disrespected the money. Who knows of he even had life insurance.

He did however have a will that set up a trust for his daughter, and so she is set.

I was shocked by his death, generally, but I was also really surprised by this. 61 years old and worth 1 million? A govt employee that age likely has that money. Why was it not a LOT more and what's the trust for his daughter and how is she "set"?

I think he did. It is almost a certainty he had insurance as part of his contract with the network. He was technically "on the job" even though cause of death was questionable. Plus, I find it hard to believe that any financial advisor (or even his ex-wife as part of divorce/child maintenance) didn't have a conversation with him about insurance for his daughter.

Like I said, he was a pretty smart guy. He KNEW if he committed suicide that insurance wouldn't pay out, neither his employer's nor his own. I could see him getting in a little sports car and "accidentally" hitting a tree at full speed. But the method he used was so fraught with problems, the primary being no insurance pay out, that I still think his death is a mystery.

The way he did it is a mystery. “Medium Raw” — After the breakup of his marriage to Nancy and before he met Ottavia, he was at loose ends. He was on St. Martin, this mountainous island in the Caribbean he always liked to go to. Late one night after many drinks, he was driving on the mountain road, and there’s a big turn on the cliff, and he started to drive right toward the edge of the cliff. At the last minute, The Chamber Brothers came on the radio, with “The Time Has Come Today,” and something about it made him swerve and not drive off the cliff."

I'd say it's not a mystery. He hung himself with the belt of his bathrobe.

May 2005 Interview with 8 Days Magazine “If I had to make a show called The Naked Chef, I'd
hang myself.”

March 2012 Interview with Food Republic: “I'm not Michael Pollan. I'm not out there addressing
sustainable agriculture in this country in a serious way. A silent room for five minutes, I may as
well hang myself.”

May 2013 Parts Unknown, Season 1, Episode 4 (Quebec): “At no point in my cooking career could
I have worked with one of these (an electric stove) without murdering everyone in the vicinity
before hanging myself from the nearest beam”.

August 2005 No Reservations, Season 1, Episode 2 (Iceland - Hello Darkness My Old Friend): “You
wake up, feeling like you're not sure whether you want to curl up into a fetal ball, start crying,
projectile vomit, or hang yourself in the shower.”

November 2005 No Reservations, Season 1, Episode 9 (New Zealand): “Generally after these
events I want to hang myself in the shower stall, and tonight's no different.”

January 2009 No Reservations, Season 5, Episode 4 (Azores): “Oh boy, just saved from a
poisonous blowhole-inspired bout of depression and self-loathing by the healing powers of pork.
I determine not to hang myself in the shower stall of my lonely hotel room.”

July 2009 No Reservations, Season 5, Episode 13 (Rust Belt): “The painful story of my life and less
than distinguished career ended up as five episodes of a sitcom on Fox, at the end of which I'd
pretty much wanted to hang myself in the shower.”

January 2010 Milwaukee WI Riverside Theater appearance: “If I had to be him for five hours, I'd
hang myself in a shower stall.”

March 2015 Peabody Awards Interview: “I said 'No. I'm just not going to do it. I can't do it. You
know, I'll hang myself in the shower stall if I do that for a week'.”

October 2015 Interview with FirstWeEat: “I'd rather hang myself in the shower than go to work
thinking that. Doing the same thing every single week because it works... that's hell.”

May 2016 Interview with Food and Wine magazine: “... but we have the freedom to look into the
camera and say ... “I am so depressed right now I just want to hang myself in the shower.”

June 2016 Interview with AdWeek: “Jesus. Let me go hang myself in the shower now. Oh my God,
it would be just so appalling.”

October 2016 Interview with Vogue magazine: ''If it feels like a Todd English product, then we
can all just go home and throw a noose over the f****** shower stall.''

December 2016 Interview on NPRs Wait Wait Don't Tell Me (It's Not My Job): “If any one of those
answers are correct, I'm going to go hang myself in the shower.”

April 2017 Interview with Mic (digital media company): “If I'm in any way responsible or seen as
supportive of 'bro cuisine' I mean, it makes me just want to hang myself in the shower thinking
about it.”

October 2017 Post-credit trailer from Wasted! The Story of Food Waste (2017), a video
documentary narrated and co-produced by Anthony Bourdain: “The more people that watch this
film and would have immediately gone and hung themselves in the shower out of guilt, the happier
I'd be.”

May 2006 About traveling with his TV production crew for “Cooks Tour” (from Nasty Bits): “...
we've been softened up by countless 'hang-yourself-in-the-shower-stall' hotel rooms.”

August 2000 Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential: “If an unexpected period of
unemployment inspires you to leap off a bridge, hang yourself from a tree or chug-a-lug a quart
of drain cleaner, that's too bad.”

April 2004 Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook: “If you can't properly roast a damn chicken
then you are one helpless, hopeless, sorry-ass bivalve in an apron. Take that apron off, wrap it
around your neck, and hang yourself.”

….wow.

Credit for the list is here - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1c25xJS6S-XvS8CXagIeQsg5D755vaWoW/view

[Anonymous]

• Was Marilyn murdered by the Kennedy’s? Or did her depression lead to suicide?

• Who is “Becky with the good hair?!”

• Are Kim + Pete for real?? I mean he IS hot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:• Was Marilyn murdered by the Kennedy’s? Or did her depression lead to suicide?

• Who is “Becky with the good hair?!”

• Are Kim + Pete for real?? I mean he IS hot.

I think MM was an accidental overdose, but I also think she was depressed.

My opinion is “Becky with the good hair” is just a mash-up of all the women Jay-Z has slept with outside of marriage and there’s probably a lot.

Kim and Pete are really dating, it’s not just for PR, but it’ll be a short lived fling.

[Anonymous]

Was there more to JFK’s assassination?

Why didn’t DJT release ufo secrets when he promised he would?

Did Melania have a double?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anthony Bourdain's suicide.

It is so hard to believe that a successful 61 year old who had surmounted so much in his life, would impulsively hang himself just before a planned dinner with a dear friend and his colleagues while in a hotel overseas.

More importantly, he had a minor daughter whom he loved dearly and a good coparenting relationship with her mother.

IMO, I think it was a case of autoerotic asphyxiation. I think his freewheeling and "open" relationship with Asia Argento may have had something to do with it. It seems he went off the rails a bit after he met her.

Perhaps he was introduced or encouraged to use asphyxiation and it went terribly wrong for him. He was always looking for new and exciting food experiences, why not sexual?

From what I read about him, he was suicidal for a lot of his life. So it was amazing that he made it as long as he did. But yeah, Asia Argento was the catalyst, and she’s pretty terrible. I feel bad for his kid and ex-wife.

It just seems like such an odd way/place to do it. Especially if you want to be "successful." Using a terry cloth bathrobe belt from a hotel's closet rod seems a bad choice for a guy who was pretty intelligent and street-smart. Knots loosen, fabric could rip, or rod could snap/bend under the weight. He would have certainly been taller than the clothes rod. Choosing to do it while being overseas in a hotel room seems off too.

He was expected for dinner and his absence meant there was a good likelihood he might have been either interrupted or found and resuscitated. It seems like an erudite guy like Bourdain might have considered those factors. That's why I think it may have been an auto-erotic thing gone wrong, which is not unheard of for male celebrities.

Hey, I was just thinking about INXS singer Michael Hutchence, who I beleived had died in an act of autoerotic asphyxiation, but appears that is not true. I just read up on it. Hutchence was in a very dramatic relationship with Paula Yates and had drug abuse problems. Also he was distraught over child custody issues, and was upset that he wasn't going to get an expected visit with his daughter. He hung himself with a belt alone in his hotel room.

The autoerotic asphyxiation idea came from Paula, who was apparently in denial over the suicide. She died of a heroin overdose in 2000. Her ex Bob Geldof raised Hutchence and Paula's daughter Tiger alongside the 4 daughters he had with Paula.

Anyway, I was surprised by the parallels between Anthony and Michael. Both had struggled with drugs and depression. Both were in fairly new and very dramatic relationships. Both took their life in a hotel room by hanging.

Yet without a note or other direct evidence of bona fide suicide there is still an element of doubt simply because there ARE cases of death by asphyxiation - and many families may not want that information exposed. That's why I think the Bourdain case fits the "Favorite Celebrity Mystery" title of this thread.

I would imagine Bourdain had a significant life insurance policy and wonder if the company flat-out refused payment under the suicide clause. However, if it was eventually ruled as accidental asphyxiation it might have bearing on the pay out.

I have more thoughts about your last paragraph. I do believe that life insurance payouts become more relevant if the deceased is poorer. Let's say a father makes $100k and his family is dependent on that money, the life insurance is very important. Questions of suicide or accident are hot if the family needs the money badly.

Bourdain died with just over $1 million. You would think it would be more. However. Dude only became a star in the last 20+/- years of his life, before that, he was a paycheck-to-paycheck kitchen cook. Then he wasn't used to having money, didn't necessarily respect the money. Maybe even disrespected the money. Who knows of he even had life insurance.

He did however have a will that set up a trust for his daughter, and so she is set.

I was shocked by his death, generally, but I was also really surprised by this. 61 years old and worth 1 million? A govt employee that age likely has that money. Why was it not a LOT more and what's the trust for his daughter and how is she "set"?

I think he did. It is almost a certainty he had insurance as part of his contract with the network. He was technically "on the job" even though cause of death was questionable. Plus, I find it hard to believe that any financial advisor (or even his ex-wife as part of divorce/child maintenance) didn't have a conversation with him about insurance for his daughter.

Like I said, he was a pretty smart guy. He KNEW if he committed suicide that insurance wouldn't pay out, neither his employer's nor his own. I could see him getting in a little sports car and "accidentally" hitting a tree at full speed. But the method he used was so fraught with problems, the primary being no insurance pay out, that I still think his death is a mystery.

The way he did it is a mystery. “Medium Raw” — After the breakup of his marriage to Nancy and before he met Ottavia, he was at loose ends. He was on St. Martin, this mountainous island in the Caribbean he always liked to go to. Late one night after many drinks, he was driving on the mountain road, and there’s a big turn on the cliff, and he started to drive right toward the edge of the cliff. At the last minute, The Chamber Brothers came on the radio, with “The Time Has Come Today,” and something about it made him swerve and not drive off the cliff."

I'd say it's not a mystery. He hung himself with the belt of his bathrobe.

May 2005 Interview with 8 Days Magazine “If I had to make a show called The Naked Chef, I'd
hang myself.”

March 2012 Interview with Food Republic: “I'm not Michael Pollan. I'm not out there addressing
sustainable agriculture in this country in a serious way. A silent room for five minutes, I may as
well hang myself.”

May 2013 Parts Unknown, Season 1, Episode 4 (Quebec): “At no point in my cooking career could
I have worked with one of these (an electric stove) without murdering everyone in the vicinity
before hanging myself from the nearest beam”.

August 2005 No Reservations, Season 1, Episode 2 (Iceland - Hello Darkness My Old Friend): “You
wake up, feeling like you're not sure whether you want to curl up into a fetal ball, start crying,
projectile vomit, or hang yourself in the shower.”

November 2005 No Reservations, Season 1, Episode 9 (New Zealand): “Generally after these
events I want to hang myself in the shower stall, and tonight's no different.”

January 2009 No Reservations, Season 5, Episode 4 (Azores): “Oh boy, just saved from a
poisonous blowhole-inspired bout of depression and self-loathing by the healing powers of pork.
I determine not to hang myself in the shower stall of my lonely hotel room.”

July 2009 No Reservations, Season 5, Episode 13 (Rust Belt): “The painful story of my life and less
than distinguished career ended up as five episodes of a sitcom on Fox, at the end of which I'd
pretty much wanted to hang myself in the shower.”

January 2010 Milwaukee WI Riverside Theater appearance: “If I had to be him for five hours, I'd
hang myself in a shower stall.”

March 2015 Peabody Awards Interview: “I said 'No. I'm just not going to do it. I can't do it. You
know, I'll hang myself in the shower stall if I do that for a week'.”

October 2015 Interview with FirstWeEat: “I'd rather hang myself in the shower than go to work
thinking that. Doing the same thing every single week because it works... that's hell.”

May 2016 Interview with Food and Wine magazine: “... but we have the freedom to look into the
camera and say ... “I am so depressed right now I just want to hang myself in the shower.”

June 2016 Interview with AdWeek: “Jesus. Let me go hang myself in the shower now. Oh my God,
it would be just so appalling.”

October 2016 Interview with Vogue magazine: ''If it feels like a Todd English product, then we
can all just go home and throw a noose over the f****** shower stall.''

December 2016 Interview on NPRs Wait Wait Don't Tell Me (It's Not My Job): “If any one of those
answers are correct, I'm going to go hang myself in the shower.”

April 2017 Interview with Mic (digital media company): “If I'm in any way responsible or seen as
supportive of 'bro cuisine' I mean, it makes me just want to hang myself in the shower thinking
about it.”

October 2017 Post-credit trailer from Wasted! The Story of Food Waste (2017), a video
documentary narrated and co-produced by Anthony Bourdain: “The more people that watch this
film and would have immediately gone and hung themselves in the shower out of guilt, the happier
I'd be.”

May 2006 About traveling with his TV production crew for “Cooks Tour” (from Nasty Bits): “...
we've been softened up by countless 'hang-yourself-in-the-shower-stall' hotel rooms.”

August 2000 Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential: “If an unexpected period of
unemployment inspires you to leap off a bridge, hang yourself from a tree or chug-a-lug a quart
of drain cleaner, that's too bad.”

April 2004 Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook: “If you can't properly roast a damn chicken
then you are one helpless, hopeless, sorry-ass bivalve in an apron. Take that apron off, wrap it
around your neck, and hang yourself.”

….wow.

My thoughts exactly. Obsession, know thyself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Was there more to JFK’s assassination?

Why didn’t DJT release ufo secrets when he promised he would?

Did Melania have a double?

JFK's death is always going to be an unknown mystery, from it being a mob hit to Communists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Was there more to JFK’s assassination?

Why didn’t DJT release ufo secrets when he promised he would?

Did Melania have a double?

The Melanie body double is a good question. There were a whole bunch of pictures on the long fashion thread that I’m pretty confident we’re not her. I usually think those theories are bullshit but the photo evidence was pretty convincing. But if true I can’t believe that hasn’t leaked! That WH was a sieve with all the tell all books.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anthony Bourdain's suicide.

It is so hard to believe that a successful 61 year old who had surmounted so much in his life, would impulsively hang himself just before a planned dinner with a dear friend and his colleagues while in a hotel overseas.

More importantly, he had a minor daughter whom he loved dearly and a good coparenting relationship with her mother.

IMO, I think it was a case of autoerotic asphyxiation. I think his freewheeling and "open" relationship with Asia Argento may have had something to do with it. It seems he went off the rails a bit after he met her.

Perhaps he was introduced or encouraged to use asphyxiation and it went terribly wrong for him. He was always looking for new and exciting food experiences, why not sexual?

From what I read about him, he was suicidal for a lot of his life. So it was amazing that he made it as long as he did. But yeah, Asia Argento was the catalyst, and she’s pretty terrible. I feel bad for his kid and ex-wife.

It just seems like such an odd way/place to do it. Especially if you want to be "successful." Using a terry cloth bathrobe belt from a hotel's closet rod seems a bad choice for a guy who was pretty intelligent and street-smart. Knots loosen, fabric could rip, or rod could snap/bend under the weight. He would have certainly been taller than the clothes rod. Choosing to do it while being overseas in a hotel room seems off too.

He was expected for dinner and his absence meant there was a good likelihood he might have been either interrupted or found and resuscitated. It seems like an erudite guy like Bourdain might have considered those factors. That's why I think it may have been an auto-erotic thing gone wrong, which is not unheard of for male celebrities.

Hey, I was just thinking about INXS singer Michael Hutchence, who I beleived had died in an act of autoerotic asphyxiation, but appears that is not true. I just read up on it. Hutchence was in a very dramatic relationship with Paula Yates and had drug abuse problems. Also he was distraught over child custody issues, and was upset that he wasn't going to get an expected visit with his daughter. He hung himself with a belt alone in his hotel room.

The autoerotic asphyxiation idea came from Paula, who was apparently in denial over the suicide. She died of a heroin overdose in 2000. Her ex Bob Geldof raised Hutchence and Paula's daughter Tiger alongside the 4 daughters he had with Paula.

Anyway, I was surprised by the parallels between Anthony and Michael. Both had struggled with drugs and depression. Both were in fairly new and very dramatic relationships. Both took their life in a hotel room by hanging.

Yet without a note or other direct evidence of bona fide suicide there is still an element of doubt simply because there ARE cases of death by asphyxiation - and many families may not want that information exposed. That's why I think the Bourdain case fits the "Favorite Celebrity Mystery" title of this thread.

I would imagine Bourdain had a significant life insurance policy and wonder if the company flat-out refused payment under the suicide clause. However, if it was eventually ruled as accidental asphyxiation it might have bearing on the pay out.

I have more thoughts about your last paragraph. I do believe that life insurance payouts become more relevant if the deceased is poorer. Let's say a father makes $100k and his family is dependent on that money, the life insurance is very important. Questions of suicide or accident are hot if the family needs the money badly.

Bourdain died with just over $1 million. You would think it would be more. However. Dude only became a star in the last 20+/- years of his life, before that, he was a paycheck-to-paycheck kitchen cook. Then he wasn't used to having money, didn't necessarily respect the money. Maybe even disrespected the money. Who knows of he even had life insurance.

He did however have a will that set up a trust for his daughter, and so she is set.

I was shocked by his death, generally, but I was also really surprised by this. 61 years old and worth 1 million? A govt employee that age likely has that money. Why was it not a LOT more and what's the trust for his daughter and how is she "set"?

I think he did. It is almost a certainty he had insurance as part of his contract with the network. He was technically "on the job" even though cause of death was questionable. Plus, I find it hard to believe that any financial advisor (or even his ex-wife as part of divorce/child maintenance) didn't have a conversation with him about insurance for his daughter.

Like I said, he was a pretty smart guy. He KNEW if he committed suicide that insurance wouldn't pay out, neither his employer's nor his own. I could see him getting in a little sports car and "accidentally" hitting a tree at full speed. But the method he used was so fraught with problems, the primary being no insurance pay out, that I still think his death is a mystery.

The way he did it is a mystery. “Medium Raw” — After the breakup of his marriage to Nancy and before he met Ottavia, he was at loose ends. He was on St. Martin, this mountainous island in the Caribbean he always liked to go to. Late one night after many drinks, he was driving on the mountain road, and there’s a big turn on the cliff, and he started to drive right toward the edge of the cliff. At the last minute, The Chamber Brothers came on the radio, with “The Time Has Come Today,” and something about it made him swerve and not drive off the cliff."

I'd say it's not a mystery. He hung himself with the belt of his bathrobe.

May 2005 Interview with 8 Days Magazine “If I had to make a show called The Naked Chef, I'd
hang myself.”

March 2012 Interview with Food Republic: “I'm not Michael Pollan. I'm not out there addressing
sustainable agriculture in this country in a serious way. A silent room for five minutes, I may as
well hang myself.”

May 2013 Parts Unknown, Season 1, Episode 4 (Quebec): “At no point in my cooking career could
I have worked with one of these (an electric stove) without murdering everyone in the vicinity
before hanging myself from the nearest beam”.

August 2005 No Reservations, Season 1, Episode 2 (Iceland - Hello Darkness My Old Friend): “You
wake up, feeling like you're not sure whether you want to curl up into a fetal ball, start crying,
projectile vomit, or hang yourself in the shower.”

November 2005 No Reservations, Season 1, Episode 9 (New Zealand): “Generally after these
events I want to hang myself in the shower stall, and tonight's no different.”

January 2009 No Reservations, Season 5, Episode 4 (Azores): “Oh boy, just saved from a
poisonous blowhole-inspired bout of depression and self-loathing by the healing powers of pork.
I determine not to hang myself in the shower stall of my lonely hotel room.”

July 2009 No Reservations, Season 5, Episode 13 (Rust Belt): “The painful story of my life and less
than distinguished career ended up as five episodes of a sitcom on Fox, at the end of which I'd
pretty much wanted to hang myself in the shower.”

January 2010 Milwaukee WI Riverside Theater appearance: “If I had to be him for five hours, I'd
hang myself in a shower stall.”

March 2015 Peabody Awards Interview: “I said 'No. I'm just not going to do it. I can't do it. You
know, I'll hang myself in the shower stall if I do that for a week'.”

October 2015 Interview with FirstWeEat: “I'd rather hang myself in the shower than go to work
thinking that. Doing the same thing every single week because it works... that's hell.”

May 2016 Interview with Food and Wine magazine: “... but we have the freedom to look into the
camera and say ... “I am so depressed right now I just want to hang myself in the shower.”

June 2016 Interview with AdWeek: “Jesus. Let me go hang myself in the shower now. Oh my God,
it would be just so appalling.”

October 2016 Interview with Vogue magazine: ''If it feels like a Todd English product, then we
can all just go home and throw a noose over the f****** shower stall.''

December 2016 Interview on NPRs Wait Wait Don't Tell Me (It's Not My Job): “If any one of those
answers are correct, I'm going to go hang myself in the shower.”

April 2017 Interview with Mic (digital media company): “If I'm in any way responsible or seen as
supportive of 'bro cuisine' I mean, it makes me just want to hang myself in the shower thinking
about it.”

October 2017 Post-credit trailer from Wasted! The Story of Food Waste (2017), a video
documentary narrated and co-produced by Anthony Bourdain: “The more people that watch this
film and would have immediately gone and hung themselves in the shower out of guilt, the happier
I'd be.”

May 2006 About traveling with his TV production crew for “Cooks Tour” (from Nasty Bits): “...
we've been softened up by countless 'hang-yourself-in-the-shower-stall' hotel rooms.”

August 2000 Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential: “If an unexpected period of
unemployment inspires you to leap off a bridge, hang yourself from a tree or chug-a-lug a quart
of drain cleaner, that's too bad.”

April 2004 Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook: “If you can't properly roast a damn chicken
then you are one helpless, hopeless, sorry-ass bivalve in an apron. Take that apron off, wrap it
around your neck, and hang yourself.”

….wow.

My thoughts exactly. Obsession, know thyself.

I shared that because I think it is really devastating when you see how many ways Anthony said he would hang himself. The list is copied from an article that I linked above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Re: Tom Cruise

When Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes started dating, I had a friend in the entertainment industry who told me the following:
Apparently everyone in Hollywood knows Tom Cruise is gay. He auditioned women to be his wife and picked Katie Holmes. They both had movies coming out and their relationship would help with publicity (Katie Holmes was not getting such amazing reviews from Batman Begins!). They had a 6 year contract.

Lo and behold, after 6 years, they got divorced!

This. There was no divorce scheme, her father didn’t rescue her, she didn’t escape. Her contract ended as planned.

Totally disagree.

The girlfriend auditioning was reported in 2012 in Vanity Fair. The burner phone allegations were also pretty widely reported and never contradicted.

And if this was an amicable, planned divorce then it would have been played that way and in such a way to make Cruise the good guy, which is what Scientology and his publicists would have wanted. Instead, you've got Holmes fleeing to, and filing for divorce in New York, where she had set herself up, gaining sole custody of her daughter, etc., etc. There's no way Tom Cruise or his people agreed to that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Re: Tom Cruise

When Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes started dating, I had a friend in the entertainment industry who told me the following:
Apparently everyone in Hollywood knows Tom Cruise is gay. He auditioned women to be his wife and picked Katie Holmes. They both had movies coming out and their relationship would help with publicity (Katie Holmes was not getting such amazing reviews from Batman Begins!). They had a 6 year contract.

Lo and behold, after 6 years, they got divorced!

This. There was no divorce scheme, her father didn’t rescue her, she didn’t escape. Her contract ended as planned.

If it was a planned contract ending, why did it seem so dramatic, like she was escaping in secrecy? I would think that wouldn't have been part of the plan because it makes Tom look bad versus a planned amicable split.

I can believe all of this except the amicable ending of the contractual marriage. There in no way no way Tom or his cult let her walk away with their kid. From what they did to a Nicole Kidman, there is no way the suddenly became “reasonable” and simply honored a contract. They did everything in their power to ruin Nicole Kidman, throw her out, keep and indoctrinate their kids against her, ban her from big movie companies and work etc etc.

This. Tom has come out worse from this sham marriage, which was intended to make him look better and elevate his credibility. My guess is that Katie gathered dirt and threatened to expose his homosexuality and crazy cult if he didn’t give her a divorce and full custody of Suri. Surely, there was a non-disclosure signed as part of the marriage contract, but the worst thing Tom could do would be sue her for breach. I suspect his choice was that all his secrets would be exposed and his only recourse was to bankrupt Katie vs. or give her a divorce.

I said way earlier in this thread that whatever Katie has/had is so damaging to Cruise or to Scientology that we will likely never know. But that's why this divorce was wrapped up in a couple of weeks. The only way Holmes gets full custody this fast is Cruise agreeing to it.