Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain apparently had a secret Reddit account where he posted about Brazilian jiu-jitsu, actor Steven Seagal, and podcast host Joe Rogan.
According to the Rolling Stone, it’s believed that the “distinctive attitude” in Reddit user NooYawkCity’s writing style revealed that it could be none other than Parts Unknown host Bourdain.
Penning his Reddit posts without an editor, the Rolling Stone article’s author Alexander Darwin said: “This was the truest Anthony Bourdain, writing simply for the sake of it, unburdened by his reputation.”
Bourdain, who died in 2018, typically posted on a Brazilian jiu-jitsu subreddit called “bjj”.
Although many of the posts relate to his favourite sport, the account thought to belong to Bourdain occasionally ventured to other corners of the website.
Commenting on a Reddit post of an Independent article about how Steven Seagal claimed to floor two opponents during a martial arts class, the Redditor wrote: “Seagal is a ‘deadly mofo’ if you get between him and the all you can eat pasta bar. The hair is definitely deadly though . A wad of that Dynell weave comes undone during a fight with Lightning Chunks of Death and you could choke.”
Weighing in on whether or not Joe Rogan could take on Wesley Snipes, the account commented: “I can tell you from personal experience you do NOT want Rogan’s arms anywhere near your neck. He cranks. Hard. And enjoys it while he does it. He’d destroy Snipes . Like hospitalize destroy.”
During an AMA (ask my anything), he responded to a question asking if Rogan would ever appear on an episode that has a Brazilian jiu-jitsu segment. Posting under the username iamAnthonyBourdain, he said: “No. I’m not rolling with that guy, it hurts.”
He continued: “He does not roll light, he goes really really hard. He’s a neck cranker, by the way, and he’s got bowling balls for arms, no visible neck, and he only rolls with no gi. So as much as I love the guy, I’ll do anything with him; shoot animals in the brain, canoe trip, hot tubbing, whatever. But I’m not rolling with the guy.”
The comment was reshared to an MMA subreddit, where NooYawkCity responded: “Can you guys consider the possibility that Joe and uh...Mr. Bourdain are friends and that he might be not entirely SERIOUS?! A sense of humor is a terrible thing to waste.”
Despite keeping his identity under wraps for several years, he slowly seemed to drop subtle hints about who was behind the Reddit account.
Speaking about Parts Unknown, the Redditor revealed that a scene showing a “one night bender” in Chiang Mai was “filmed painstakingly”. He added: “Television does not happen in real time.”
He also responded to an Instagram post about an ear injury he sustained, saying it was “painful as f***”.
The last post from the account was five years ago, where he told the Brazilian jiu-jitsu subreddit about his favourite place to train.
