Nigella Lawson
(Picture: Dave Benett/Getty Images)Friends of Sir Salman Rushdie gathered last night at the British Library to celebrate his work, at an event organised by English PEN.
Rushdie has lived under threat for decades after Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa over his novel The Satanic Verses. In August he was stabbed on stage. The suspect had reportedly read two pages of the book.
Nigella Lawson led tributes to her “great friend”. “I always like feeding him,” she said, “he’s a great eater.” She remembered serving him her most rough and ready dish after the oven broke: “Salman and I had to dine on breakfast cereal, which I rather liked!”
Rushdie’s injuries are thought to be life-changing. “It’s hard to get over the shock of why we’re here now and what’s prompted this,” Lawson said. Friends, including Julian Barnes, Monica Ali and Melvyn Bragg, read extracts from his books.
Restaurants in rebrand
It’s the end of an era in the London restaurant trade. Yesterday Corbin & King, the company that owns spots like The Wolseley and the Delaunay, officially changed its name to The Wolseley Hospitality Group, erasing the names of its founders Chris Corbin and Jeremy King, left. Earlier this year a fund bought the major stake in the group and ousted them.
Red box gives you wings
She has dumped swathes of his agenda, but Liz Truss is still a fan of Boris Johnson’s “Brexit jet”. The plane, decorated with a Union flag, was first leased by the government last year for use by ministers on trade missions. It was used just once in its first six months of service. But now the government is extending the plane’s lease for three years, at a cost of around £62m. So much for belt-tightening!
Emin-ent painter
Artist Tracey Emin is back with a bang. Her recent battle with cancer triggered a creative frisson and last night one of her newest works, Like A Cloud Of Blood, sold at Christie’s for £2.3 million, around four times the estimated price. But Emin won’t be lining her pockets with the proceeds. Instead, the money will go towards the new art school/studio she plans to open next month in her native Margate.
Last night in town
IRISH acting duo Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell were on the Southbank last night launching The Banshees of Inisherin, their latest movie. In Frieze land, footballer Andy Cole spent the evening perusing the Miart Gallery.
Raf Simons’s catwalk drew an eclectic crowd of locomotive enthusiast Francis Bourgeois, poet Sonny Hall, DJ Fiona Jane and fashion guru Lulu Kennedy. Also on the South Bank, normal person Paul Mescal premiered Aftersun with his co-star Frankie Corio.
