Celebrity News June 24, 2025
Anne Burrell’s Friends ‘Shocked & Confused’ by Her Sudden Death
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The news last week of celebrity chef Anne Burrell’s sudden death has left her friends struggling to understand what happened.
A night before she was found unresponsive in her Brooklyn apartment, Burrell spent time with pals at her Second City “Improv for Actors” course.
Her friend Jane Margolis told People magazine, “She was having the best night. She’d come up with these one-liners out of the blue that were just hysterical. She really was so into it.”
The NYPD is now investigating Burrell’s sudden death as a possible drug overdose.
NYPD Investigating Anne Burrell's Death as Possible Drug OD
View StoryThe New York Times reported that Burrell, 55, was found early June 17 by her husband Stuart Claxton unconscious and surrounded by "approximately (100) assorted pills" in their shower.
An internal document examined by the outlet confirms police suspect an overdose, though whether accidental or intentional is not known. An NYC chief medical examiner's office spokesperson told The Times an autopsy was complete, but that the office's findings regarding how she died were pending.
A source close to Burrell told People, “We’re all shocked and confused.”
After learning of Burrell’s death, her friends publicly mourned her loss.
Fellow chef Tyler Florence said, “She was a force of nature. That ‘It’ factor people talk about with celebrities? She had it in spades. She was so big people would just fall all over her.”
Chef Andrew Zimmern shared at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, “[Anne] was a trailblazer on the Food Network, a brash, bold, loud New Yorker, and a woman who had a tremendous capacity for love. I can’t think of another community that has done such an incredible job looking out for each other, but I honestly don’t think we’re doing enough. When we lose someone like Anne, I don’t think we’re doing enough.”
