Salman Rushdie has been spotted in a Manhattan art gallery with Anna Wintour – just nine months after being stabbed 15 times while on stage in upstate New York.
The 75-year-old author was seen on Saturday next to a framed photo of himself at an exhibit at Manhattan’s Gagosian Gallery, which was dedicated to Richard Avedon’s 100th birthday.
Rushdie, wearing blacked-out glasses after his stabbing last August, posed for the print he lent to the show that read, “Yours in the struggle.”
The print was signed in 1994 by photographer Avedon.
Rushdie had to undergo emergency surgery following stab wounds to the neck and abdomen, stab wounds to his right eye and chest, and a laceration to his right thigh. Hadi Matar, 24, has pleaded not guilty to attempting to kill him.
But Rushdie seemed in high spirits at the star-studded event last weekend. It is one of the first times he has been seen in public since the traumatic ordeal on August 12.
Salman Rushdie, with one of his glasses obscured after his stabbing last August, posed for the print he lent to the show that read: ‘Yours in the struggle’
Rushdie poses with Larry Gagosian and Anna Weyant as the Gagosian celebrates the Avedon 100 exhibit
Rushdie broke his silence in February, six months after being stabbed on stage at a literary event to slay his ‘idiot’ attacker and reveal he has PTSD and nightmares as a result of the ‘colossal’ attack
Onlookers rushed to help Rushdie at the Chautaqua Institute after the August 12 attack
Anna Wintour also attended opening night on West 21st Street alongside Gigi Hadid, Karlie Kloss, Sofia Coppola and Patti Smith.
Anne Hathaway, Naomi Campbell, and Jared Leto all joined in — as many celebrities were still in NYC after Monday night’s Met Gala.
Derek Blasberg, the gallery’s senior contributor, wrote, ‘Last night we opened an exhibition dedicated to Richard Avedon’s centenary.
Lauren Hutton wore the same cap she wore when he photographed her for Vogue in 1973.
Salman Rushdie stood in front of a print he loaned to the show, signed by Avedon in 1994, which reads, “Yours in the fight.”
There was Patti Smith for her 1998 portrait and there was trailblazing model Pat Cleveland for a shot of her dancing in a 1977 Bill Blass dress.
Anna Wintour also attended opening night on West 21st Street along with Gigi Hadid, Sofia Coppola and Patti Smith
Precious Lee, Derek Blasberg and Gigi Hadid attended the opening of the gallery
Aimee Mullins, Salman Rushdie and Alba Clemente attend Francesco Clemente, Angelus Novus Opening on March 2, 2023 at Vito Schnabel Galler
Pregnant Karlie Kloss smiles at the event – which Rushdie also attended
Rushdie poses with Bennett Miller at the star-studded event
“Precious Lee educated people about the civil rights leaders Avedon photographed in the 1960s, and Sofia Coppola explained how he printed a mural of Marilyn Monroe in 1974 using footage from a 1957 Bazaar shoot.”
Avedon was supposed to turn 100 this year, but the photographer died in 2004.
He shot Brooke Shield’s infamous Calvin Klein jeans campaign when she was 15 years old.
And Avedon was the lead photographer at Vogue, shooting most of the covers from 1973 until Anna Wintour became editor-in-chief in 1988.
Rushdie was in hospital for six weeks and has since been recovering at home. He spoke out to promote his latest book, Victory City, in February, which he completed before the attack.
In an interview with The New Yorker, he said he was “better” but was still suffering and needed constant monitoring.
Iran – which has long wanted Rushdie dead – denied any involvement in the attack. Matar said in an interview with The New York Post last year that he “didn’t like” the author.
“I don’t like the person. I don’t think he’s a very good person, I don’t like him. I don’t like him that much.
“He is someone who attacked Islam, he attacked their beliefs, the belief systems,” he said. He remains in Chautauqua County Jail awaiting trial.
Attacker Hadi Matar said last year he stabbed Rushdie for ‘attacking Islam’
Rushdie called the interview “idiot.”
‘I don’t know what I think of him because I don’t know him. I’ve only seen his idiotic interview in the New York Post.
What only an idiot would do. I know the process is still a long way off. It may not happen until late next year. I think I’ll get to know a little more about him then,’ he said.
While recuperating at home, Rushdie has been trying to find a TV show he likes, but has been unsuccessful in labeling The White Lotus as ‘terrible’.
Rushdie has lost more than 40 pounds since the attack, has scar tissue on the right side of his face and a little droop in his lower lip.
‘I’ve been better. But given what happened, I’m not that bad. As you can see, the major injuries have essentially healed.
‘I have feeling in my thumb and forefinger and in the lower half of the palm. I do a lot of hand therapy and I’ve heard I’m doing really well.
“There have been nightmares – not exactly the incident, but just frightening.
“Those seem to be decreasing. I’m fine. I can get up and walk around. When I say I’m fine, I mean there are parts of my body that need constant monitoring.
“It was a colossal attack,” he said.