Rushdie threatens reporter after report against wife

WASHINGTON: Salman Rushdie threatened to come after a New York Times reporter with a baseball bat because he had written a sarcastic piece about his fashion model wife. It is not known if Guy Trebay, the reporter, is going to report the threat of dire physical violence by the novelist to police or not. There is no question that were he to do so, the police would have a few questions to ask of the author of Satanic Verses. In a hard-hitting column last month, The New York Times reporter called Padma Lakshmi a “freeloader” and a “hustler” who was seen at several New York Fashion Week events sporting clothes and jewellery that she had borrowed from makers of famous brands. Trebay wrote, “One of the cool things about the goddess Lakshmi is her unabashed relationship to prosperity. In the current fashion model pantheon, Ms Lakshmi similarly stands for a love of money and commodity. A burgeoning brand married to a global brand, she has no problem making public an inventory of brands she chooses to wear at fashion shows.” The reporter went on to give a list of designer clothes, accessories and jewellry pieces – all free of charge – that Lakshmi had worn at different fashion events. He wrote that people such as her were “freeloaders”. According to his report, “She is closer to the breed of celebrity who will actually crack open a wallet every once in a while than the more prevalent type one tends to encounter now. A celebrated hustler Ms Lakshmi may be. But at least she has celebrity bonafides.” Rushdie is said to have buttonholed the offending American reporter at a reception in New York and said, “If you ever write mean things about my wife again, I’ll come after you with a baseball bat.” khalid hasan

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