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5 months ago
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New York's most provocative restaurateur has finally spilled the beans on the celebrity whose identity was censored by Instagram after he offered the 'raw truth' about them.
Keith McNally of Balthazar was inundated with guesses after offering a free dinner to anyone naming the person he had singled out in a post that was immediately deleted for 'violent or graphic content'.
Hundreds responded to the prospect of dinner-for-two at his Parisian-style brasserie but many were at a loss to know where to start given his history of scathing remarks about everyone from James Corden to Lauren Sanchez.
'Judging by the amount of individuals you have fallen out with, this bet has worse odds than the Euro lottery,' wrote one.
But the British-born restaurant owner wrong-footed everyone on Tuesday night when he revealed the person in question was actually 'my good friend, the writer and television star Padma Lakshmi'.
Keith McNally was inundated with guesses after offering a free dinner to anyone naming the person he had singled out in a post later deleted for 'violent or graphic content'
'I posted a photo of Padma which exposed one of her beautiful breasts and the Instagram authorities deleted it,' he explained.
'The post was completely in praise of Padma. ('The raw truth about the ultra intelligent Padma Lakshmi') he added.
'Most of you automatically thought I was denigrating the person in the deleted post. But why???'
His 123,000 Instagram followers may have had in mind his torrent of abuse against Sanchez, wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who he called 'absolutely revolting' in an April post.
'What an ugly and F***ing SMUG - LOOKING couple they make,' he added. 'Is this what having 1000 Billion dollars does to people?'
Days later he rowed back on his criticism admitting they looked 'like a million dollars' as the couple appeared at the Met Gala.
McNally went on to say that he received 'unfunny and weird' comments from other billionaires' wives, before narrowing it down on Jessica Seinfeld.
'The Unfunniest was from the wife of comedian Jerry Seinfeld (whom I adore) - Jessica Seinfeld. Seinfeld must have been embarrassed by her comment because she quickly deleted it.'
He then shared part of Jessica Seinfeld's response, which read: 'THIS POST IS A REFLECTION OF YOUR TWISTED, PITIFUL, AND HIDEOUS MIND. LAUREN HAS TWICE THE CHARACTER YOU DO.'
McNally revealed that his original Instagram post was actually removed because it pictured too much of Padma Lakshi's breast, and not because it was violent or threatening
The Balthazar owner slammed Lauren Sanchez and her husband, the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, as an 'ugly and F***ing SMUG - LOOKING couple' in one April post
McNally went on to say that he received 'unfunny and weird' comments from other billionaires' wives, before narrowing it down on Jessica Seinfeld
He famously fell out with fellow Brit James Corden describing him as a 'hugely gifted comedian but a tiny cretin of a man' after the former Late Late Show host reportedly insulted his staff.
He defended Jeffrey Epstein's collaborator Ghislane Maxwell and compared Woody Allen to Emmett Till, the black 15-year-old who was murdered in a racist Mississippi lynching in 1955.
'This morning Instagram's authorities deleted my last post because it contained 'graphic or violent content',' he fumed on Monday.
'How Ridiculous! I simply wrote the raw truth about someone.
'If anybody can guess the name of the person in my post he or she will win a free dinner for two at Balthazar.
'Clue: It's not Graydon Carter,' he added, namechecking the former Vanity Fair editor and fellow restaurant owner he fell out with in 2021 after a late-cancelled booking.
'I've never been this disappointed to have missed a social media post ever,' replied one of his 123,000 Instagram followers as the guesses began flooding in .
'I'm so bummed that I missed it! Anyone have a snapshot to share?? Pretty please?' added another.
Corden, Sanchez and Seinfeld were among the early guesses before McNally narrowed it down by revealing the person was a woman, and upped his offer to include flights to New York.
Susan Sarandon, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Kim Kardashian and Meghan Markle were suggested along with Kate Middleton and the late Mother Theresa.
'Melanie Trump? Am desperate for the resolve at this point,' wrote one.
'Who is Hillary Clinton… final answer!' added another.
McNally's Parisian-style brasserie has become a favorite celebrity hang-out despite its owner's caustic reputation, but now faces a crackdown after pests were found on the premises
The restaurant owner finally cleared up the mystery on Tuesday night, revealing that 'not one of the thousand comments guessed it was Padma!'
'However, I still plan to offer a free dinner for two,' he added.
'But it's going to the person whose suggestion made me laugh the most. It's therefore between these four: Mother Teresa, Richard Nixon, Patricia Routledge, and Taylor Mead. I'll announce the winner tomorrow.'
And the Indian-born actress who is married to author Salman Rushdie seemed equally thrown off by McNally's cryptic posts.
'Oh my!!! I had no idea!' she wrote in response.
Keith McNally's verbal hit list
Renowned Restaurateur Keith McNally is known for his handful of enduringly popular restaurants in New York City and around the world. He has become, perhaps, equally well-known for his sharp-tongue and unfiltered opinions.
Lauren Sanchez - On April 15, McNally posted a seemingly unprompted incendiary rant aimed at the fiancée of the world's richest man, Jeff Bezos. In it, he brands Sanchez, who often walks red carpets and attends formal events in extremely revealing outfits, 'revolting'
James Corden - In October 2022, McNally went to war with then-late night host Corden after the British funnyman allegedly berated the Balthazar staff on two separate occasions. Corden apologized on-air for his rude behavior, but denied he'd done anything wrong to several publications, further infuriating McNally. The restaurateur banned and then unbanned Corden from Balthazar, branding him a 'cretin'
Ronan Farrow - McNally is a longtime defender of Woody Allen, who has faced accusations of child sexual abuse for many years, which have harmed his reputation in Hollywood and with the publishing house that was meant to release his memoir in 2020. Ahead of the release, Ronan Farrow - himself a successful author - said he felt he could no longer work with Hachette after it acquired the memoir. Hachette promptly dropped plans to release 'Apropos of Nothing,' and gave the rights back to the author. McNally called the 'silencing of Woody Allen' an 'abuse of power by Ronan Farrow. Hachette’s craven disavowal of Woody Allen’s memoir damages freedom of expression and signals a dangerous victory for censorship by those who shout loudest,' he wrote.
Graydon Carter - In 2021, McNally took aim at Carter, the former Vanity Fair editor and founder of Air Mail, after he failed to show up for a 12-person reservation at McNally's West Village spot Morandi. 'That fancy F***er will never be allowed to make a reservation at one of my restaurants again. Never,' he wrote, adding that Carter 'had done this very same thing before. Once at Minetta Tavern and twice at Balthazar.'
Jean Georges' Tin Building - When it first opened several years ago, McNally of course did not hold his tongue when he had a negative thought about Jean Georges' restored and re-opened Tin Building in Manhattan. 'Less a food market, and more a collection of fancy restaurants ... if you're eager to go to a classy shopping mall in Orlando, save the airfare and take a cab to the Tin Building,' he wrote, adding that the project 'epitomizes the Very Worst of New York.' Three months later, he backtracked entirely after visiting the revamped food destination, writing that he had 'COMPLETELY CHANGED MY MIND ... I'm loath to admit it, but I absolutely loved the place. I should now do the Right Thing and apologize to everyone involved with the market … for being so f***ing wrong about it.'
Fay Maschler MBE - Several years back, McNally posted a rant about alleged corruption among the restaurant critics of London. Specifically, he told a story about nurturing a friendship with Fay Maschler MBE and her husband before she gave his newly opened British Balthazar a rave review. He wrote that 'without Fay Maschler's 'bought' review, which I take 50% responsibility for, Balthazar would have closed,' noting that the rest of the English critics panned the new spot. He said 'Four of five of London restaurant critics have so much Putin-like power that the people who slave away cooking and serving the food are scared s***less to publicly find fault with them, or even talk openly about the restaurant critics' colossal power.'
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