On Friday, Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme posted a letter on Instagram that the late Anthony Bourdain wrote to his daughter Camille.
Apparently Homme's young daughter—pre-grammar school—was upset when she saw footage from a promo clip of Bourdain smashing a guitar she thought was her daddy's against a tree. In actuality, the guitar was merely a prop.
In the letter, Bourdain apologizes for upsetting her and explains his actions before extolling the virtues of her father, who was also a longtime friend.
In the caption, Homme states, "Tony, I miss you bad…you apologized to a little girl who was defending her daddy. Ariane, this was your father. Humbly yours, Joshua."
The letter quickly went viral and effected fans of both Bourdain and Homme.
Here it is:
Read the letter Anthony Bourdain wrote to Josh Homme's daughter after hearing about her negative reaction to an epi… https://t.co/nN3B5uOnsX— Consequence of Sound (@Consequence of Sound) 1530305740.0
The pain from Bourdain's suicide is still fresh and for many, reading the letter just reignited their grief:
@consequence Dang it Anthony!! I am still sad and angry and this beautiful letter just makes me cry. Dang it!!!— LindaW (@LindaW) 1530326979.0
@consequence If Twitter had a sob button . . .😫— Li Li Raven ✌🏻🐏❄😂🍷 (@Li Li Raven ✌🏻🐏❄😂🍷) 1530365007.0
@consequence The letter from Homme to Bourdain’s daughter is just beyond 😫😭— Sora 🔥🔥 (@Sora 🔥🔥) 1530359530.0
@consequence About to go to work, scroll through my twitter, read this note, now I’m ugly crying.— Mr. Sudzy (@Mr. Sudzy) 1530361556.0
@consequence @KaraCalavera WOW. What an incredible person you were Anthony. I would love to have spent five minutes… https://t.co/m5JHxzw0MQ— betty henderson (@betty henderson) 1530385056.0
Twitter users lamented that Bourdain was unable to get help:
@consequence @jaketapper It's so sad that Anthony seemingly had so many good friends around the world but couldn't… https://t.co/La3HDWYnG2— notanAttorneyatlaw (@notanAttorneyatlaw) 1530367743.0
@consequence Whatever Anthony Bourdain did will never overshadow his love he poured out while receiving none in it… https://t.co/rvErdMoTHK— Freefranzfreeabby@ya (@Freefranzfreeabby@ya) 1530367162.0
Regarding the letter, commenters said:
@consequence I love that he didn't talk (write) down to her yet kept it simple and sincere. I believe he burned too… https://t.co/3iLZkCqBaT— Sylvia Socks (@Sylvia Socks) 1530332963.0
@qotsa It’s impossible to read this and not hear Anthony’s voice— Nicole Simone (@Nicole Simone) 1530307458.0
His loss is felt by many:
This is beautiful. We lost a true great. https://t.co/1qW2D6U7YL— Gabriel Ceballos (@Gabriel Ceballos) 1530310361.0
@consequence God, I still miss Tony. So bad. RIP Tony.— Cynthia Owens 🌊❄🌊 (@Cynthia Owens 🌊❄🌊) 1530362785.0
True this:
@consequence @jaketapper It strikes me that I wish he could have been as kind to himself as he was of others.— Jean Hamilton Laslo (@Jean Hamilton Laslo) 1530364345.0
H/T: Twitter, CoS (Consequence of Sound), Instagram