Famed New York restaurateur Keith McNally doubled down on his long-standing support for Woody Allen, declaring from his hospital bed ahead of kidney stone surgery that, if he died, critics of his support for Allen can ‘f*** off’.
McNally, the 72-year-old owner of establishments including Balthazar and Pastis, posted a photo on Monday from his hospital bed.
He said he was visiting London, where he was born, and fell ill.
‘At noon tomorrow I’m going to have laser surgery to have the kidney stone obliterated,’ he wrote.
‘If I don’t come out of this alive I’d like to say a big F*** OFF right now to everybody on Instagram who criticized me for supporting the INNOCENT Woody Allen.’
McNally, who enjoys sharing his provocative opinions online – he has in the past defended Ghislaine Maxwell and shamed James Corden – has been a vocal supporter of Allen’s for years.
Keith McNally posted this photo from his hospital bed in London. He captioned it: ‘At noon tomorrow I’m going to have laser surgery to have the kidney stone obliterated. If I don’t come out of this alive I’d like to say a big F*** OFF right now to everybody on Instagram who criticized me for supporting the INNOCENT Woody Allen’
Woody Allen, now 88, is seen in September at a premiere of his film Coup de Chance in Rome
McNally, 72, is pictured dining at Balthazar, which he opened in 1997. The restaurant is now a celebrity hotspot, with Anna Wintour, Meryl Streep and Sienna Miller all regulars
Allen has been dogged by controversy for decades – beginning when he became romantically involved with his stepdaughter Soon-Yi Previn.
Soon-Yi and Allen began a relationship in January 1992: he was 56, and she was 21. Allen and Mia Farrow separated, and Allen and Soon-Yi married in 1997.
They remain married today, and are adoptive parents to two daughters, 24-year-old Bechet and Manzie Tio, 23.
Allen was once again in the midst of scandal when his daughter Dylan – who he had adopted with Farrow in 1991 – accused him of sexually assaulting her, when she was seven.
He has always denied her allegations, and was not charged – although a Connecticut prosecutor said there was probable cause for a criminal case.
In 2013, Dylan spoke about the alleged encounter for the first time publicly, 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 excoriating the industry for giving her father a pass.
McNally, at the front in the center, is seen with his staff and chefs at his Manhattan restaurant, Balthazar
Allen is pictured holding daughter Dylan in a family photo. Second right is Soon-Yi, who he would marry when she was 21, and he 56
Allen and his wife Soon-Yi are pictured in 2016 in New York City
Woody Allen and Mia Farrow with their children Dylan and Ronan, in 1988. Dylan now claims that 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, in 2003 in McNally’s restaurant Pastis – and McNally has been a fan ever since.
McNally condemned Allen’s publisher Hachette for refusing to publish Allen’s memoir, 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.
‘Silencing Woody Allen is a abuse of power by Ronan Farrow,’ wrote McNally, in March 2020.
‘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.’
Allen’s comments drew howls of protest, but he continued to double down.
In October 2020, McNally explained that Allen had filmed scenes at Pastis in 2003, and needed to reshoot them.
McNally wrote: ‘Perversely, I asked for a quarter of the original fee that I’d charged two months earlier.
‘Woody Allen was so dumbstruck that a New Yorker hadn’t taken advantage of a sitting duck that he came in person to Pastis to thank me.
‘Despite his giving me a handshake of a wet fish, if I had known he was later to 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 charged him nothing at all.’
And, on December 1, McNally wrote: ‘HAPPY 88th BIRTHDAY WOODY ALLEN!
‘If Michelangelo were born in Flatbush his name would be Woody Allen.
‘Allen’s a Great filmmaker but ….an even Greater man.’