Five weeks after Anthony Bourdain‘s death, his estranged wife Ottavia Busia continues to be a rock for their 11-year-old daughter Ariane.
Busia’s best friend Doug Quint, who is a co-founder of Big Gay Ice Cream, gave an update on how the mother of one is doing following Bourdain’s suicide on June 8. Tweeting a series of statements from his company’s verified account, Quint alluded to Bourdain, though he was not mentioned directly by name.
“Five weeks ago my best friend’s husband killed himself. Five weeks ago the father of the ring-bearer at my wedding killed himself,” Quint’s first two tweets read.
“For five weeks I have watched my best friend display more poise and grace than I could ever imagine, in the face of a global publicity s–t-storm,” another tweet read.
“For five weeks I have seen the best mothering imaginable. This whole f–king thing sucks so horribly and it always will but I discovered she’s not just my best friend,” Quint wrote in follow-up tweets.
Concluding, “Ottavia is my idol.”
Although Bourdain and Busia separated in 2016 after nine years of marriage, their divorce was not finalized before his death. (Bourdain and girlfriend Asia Argento began dating after meeting during the filming of his CNN show Parts Unknown in 2016.)
Bourdain often supported Big Gay Ice Cream, famously christening the franchise’s East Village store in 2011, dressed as a priest.
He also wrote the foreword for the company’s 2015 cookbook, Big Gay Ice Cream: Saucy Stories & Frozen Treats: Going All the Way with Ice Cream, which was written by Quint and Bryan Petroff, who is both his romantic and business partner.
Bourdain was found dead of suicide in his hotel room in Kaysersberg, France, while in the country filming an upcoming episode of Parts Unknown with his close friend, French-born chef Eric Ripert.
A source previously told PEOPLE the culinary star was cremated in France five days after his death on June 13, and his ashes were flown back to the United States.
Earlier this month, Bourdain’s will, which was written in 2016, revealed that the majority of his $1.21 million fortune will be left to his only child Ariane while the executor of his estate will be Busia.
Bourdain also gave his “accumulated frequent flyer miles” to Busia, and asked her to “dispose of [them] in accordance with what [she] believes to have been my wishes,” according to the outlets. The same instructions were stated for his cars, furniture, books, clothing and household items.
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 to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
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