Anthony Bourdain doesn't mince words.
The Travel Channel and Cadillac found this out first hand when the celebrity chef went off on the network for its product placement in his No Reservations series finale.
In a Tumblr post entitled "Fighting Mad," Bourdain was fired up about the network making it look like he was endorsing the car in violation of his contract.
"It came as a shock and a disappointment to turn on the TV for the last two episodes of my show, and see that someone had taken footage that me and my creative team had shot for my show, cut it up and edited it together with scenes of a new Cadillac driving through the forest," wrote the caustic culinary king. "Scenes of me, my face, and with my voice, were edited in such a way as to suggest that I might be driving that Cadillac. That, at least, I was very likely IN that Cadillac—and that if nothing else, I sure as s--t was endorsing Cadillac as the vehicle of choice for my show. All this following seamlessly from the actual show so you were halfway through the damn thing before you even realized it was a commercial."
Bourdain noted that he had a clause put in his agreement with the Travel Channel that specifically dealt with this sort of thing, as he felt that any product integration without his express permission could undermine his credibility.
The foodie god cited one such instance when he agreed to use a credit card in several episodes in order to help the network make money and ensure he and his producers got the budget they needed. But the backlash from fans was so intense, he vowed to never do it again.
"It was clearly expressed in writing, clearly understood and agreed to that I would not use or mention any products in my show and my name and image would not be used in connection with any products in return for anything of value or any other consideration without my specific agreement," Bourdain added.
As for his Twitter barrage, the Kitchen Confidential author freely admitted to letting his feelings fly when he saw what his bosses had done to his swan song. "After the first airing of the commercial, I let the network know of my extreme displeasure. Fair warning one would think. They ran it again anyway," he said.
Bourdain did offer a mea culpa to Cadillac, however, for tweets that contained some particularly nasty insults, saying he had "no problem" with the car company.
"I apologize to the guys on the production line at Cadillac, for finding the thing YOU make, and I have no doubt, are very proud of, in the middle of a rancorous disagreement," he offered.
While Bourdain expressed pride for No Reservations' eight seasons, he admitted the promo stunt left him with a pretty bad aftertaste and he remains angry.
When asked for comment, a publicist for the Travel Channel issued this statement to E! News: "We've enjoyed a long and mutually beneficial relationship with Tony and his production team, but his decision to make further remarks on this matter in the public domain is unfortunate."
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