Famed New York restaurateur Keith McNally, 72, defends ‘innocent’ Woody Allen as he undergoes kidney stone surgery and tells critics who blasted him for supporting filmmaker during child sex abuse claims to ‘f**k off’
Famed New York restaurateur Keith McNally doubled down on his longstanding support for Woody Allen, declaring from his hospital bed prior to kidney stone surgery that if he were to die, critics of his support for Allen could “fuck off.”
McNally, the 72-year-old owner of Balthazar and Pastis, among others, posted a photo from his hospital bed on Monday.
He said he was visiting London, where he was born, and fell ill.
“Tomorrow at noon I will have laser surgery to have the kidney stone destroyed,” he wrote.
“If I don’t get out of this alive, I would now like to say a big F*** OFF to everyone on Instagram who criticized me for supporting the INNOCENT Woody Allen.”
McNally, who likes to share his provocative opinions online — he has defended Ghislaine Maxwell and shamed James Corden in the past — has been an outspoken supporter of Allen for years.
Keith McNally posted this photo from his hospital bed in London. He captioned it: “Tomorrow at 12pm I’m going to have laser surgery to have the kidney stone destroyed. If I don’t get out of this alive, I would now like to say a big F*** OFF to everyone on Instagram who criticized me for supporting the INNOCENT Woody Allen.
Woody Allen, now 88, can be seen at a premiere of his film Coup de Chance in Rome in September
McNally, 72, is seen dining at Balthazar, which he opened in 1997. The restaurant is now a celebrity hotspot, with Anna Wintour, Meryl Streep and Sienna Miller among its regulars.
Allen has been dogged by controversy for decades, starting when he started dating his stepdaughter Soon-Yi Previn.
Soon-Yi and Allen began dating in January 1992: he was 56 and she was 21. Allen and Mia Farrow separated, and Allen and Soon-Yi married in 1997.
They are still married and are adoptive parents to two daughters, 24-year-old Bechet and Manzie Tio, 23.
Allen found himself at the center of another scandal when his daughter Dylan – whom he adopted with Farrow in 1991 – accused him of sexually abusing her when she was seven.
He has always denied her allegations and was not charged, although a prosecutor in Connecticut said there was likely grounds for a criminal case.
In 2013, Dylan spoke publicly about the alleged encounter for the first time, in an interview with Vanity Fair.
In 2017, at the height of the Harvey Weinstein scandal and the #MeToo movement, Dylan wrote an op-ed in The Los Angeles Times slamming the industry for giving her father a pass.
McNally, front center, is seen with his staff and chefs at his Manhattan restaurant, Balthazar
Allen is pictured holding daughter Dylan in a family photo. Second from the right is Soon-Yi, whom he would marry when she was 21 and he was 56
Allen and his wife Soon-Yi are pictured in New York City in 2016
Woody Allen and Mia Farrow with their children Dylan and Ronan, in 1988. Dylan now claims Allen sexually abused her when she was seven
McNally joined Instagram in 2020 and within two weeks had defended Allen.
Allen filmed Melinda and Melinda, starring Radha Mitchell, at McNally’s restaurant Pastis in 2003 – and McNally has been a fan ever since.
McNally condemned Allen’s publisher Hachette for refusing to publish Allen’s memoirs in the fallout from the scandal, and accused Allen’s son Ronan Farrow – who has sided with his sister Dylan – of working to blacklist the director .
“The silencing of Woody Allen is an abuse of power by Ronan Farrow,” McNally wrote in March 2020.
“Hachette’s cowardly rejection of Woody Allen’s memoir damages free speech and heralds a dangerous victory for the censorship of those who shout the loudest.”
Allen’s comments drew loud protests, but he continued to double down.
In October 2020, McNally explained that Allen had filmed scenes at Pastis in 2003 and had to reshoot them.
McNally wrote: ‘Perversely, I charged a quarter of the original fee I had charged two months earlier.
“Woody Allen was so stunned that a New Yorker had not taken advantage of a sitting duck that he personally came to Pastis to thank me.
“Despite him giving me a wet fish handshake, if I had known he would later be hounded by the #MeToo movement and shunned by half the film industry for an act he was never found guilty of, I would have have not charged anything. not at all.’
And on December 1, McNally wrote: “HAPPY 88TH BIRTHDAY WOODY ALLEN!
“If Michelangelo had been born in Flatbush, his name would be Woody Allen.
“Allen is a great filmmaker, but…an even greater man.”