Padma Lakshmi Says She’s “Relieved” Ex-Husband Salman Rushdie Is “Pulling Through” After Stabbing

On Friday, author/fatwa target Salman Rushdie was repeatedly stabbed by 24-year-old Hadi Matar, who rushed the stage right before Salman was about to give a talk at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York. The discussion was supposed to be about how the U.S. is a safe haven for exiled writers. Huh. Yesterday Salman’s son, Zafar Rushdie, told NBC News that, while his 75-year-old father “remains in critical condition,” he has been taken off the ventilator and was “able to say a few words.” After this positive update, People reports that Rushdie Ex-Wife #4, Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi, tweeted that she’s relieved her ex is “pulling through.”

Here’s Padma’s tweet:

Relieved @SalmanRushdie is pulling through after Friday’s nightmare. Worried and wordless, can finally exhale. Now hoping for swift healing.

— Padma Lakshmi (@PadmaLakshmi) August 14, 2022

51-year-old Padma met Salman at a party in 1999, when he was still married to Ex-Wife #3. In her 2016 memoir, Padma wrote that, despite the fact that he was married, Salman pursued her and they slept together on their first date. The couple wed in 2004, but they weren’t happy for long. Padma writes that Salman wasn’t super supportive of her career; when she scored the cover of Newsweek for a story about the “New India,” he said,“The only time Newsweek put me on their cover was when someone was trying to put a bullet in my head.” Then there was Padma’s struggle with endometriosis, which made sex painful for her. This pissed Salman off, and he allegedly referred to his young wife as a “bad investment.” Things came to a head after Salman left on a trip the day after Padma got major surgery. Padma writes that, on his way out the door, he said, “The show must go on, after all.” Her first post-op trip out of the house was to a divorce lawyer. They split in 2007.

On Friday night, Salman’s agent said that the author was “not good”: “Salman will likely lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed; and his liver was stabbed and damaged.” Here’s his son’s full health update from yesterday, in which he refers to Salman’s injuries as “life changing” and “severe”:

New statement to NBC News from son of Salman Rushdie on his father’s condition. The author is now off the ventilator and has been able to say a few words, he says. pic.twitter.com/dlHIY9MSFg

— Jesse Rodriguez (@JesseRodriguez) August 14, 2022

If Padma really wants Salman to make a swift recovery, maybe she should heal him through the power of song. See: her performance as Sylk in Mariah Carey’s Glitter:

Pic: Roger Wong/INFGoff.com