**Salman Rushdie Welcomes 25-Year Sentence for Attacker Who Left Him Blind in One Eye**
Booker Prize-winning author Sir Salman Rushdie has expressed his relief and sense of justice following the sentencing of the man responsible for a life-altering attack against him. Hadi Matar, a United States citizen, was given 25 years in prison for stabbing Rushdie during a 2022 stage event in New York, leaving the acclaimed writer blind in his right eye.
The verdict, delivered earlier in May, marks a significant moment for the literary world and for Rushdie personally. Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Rushdie—now aged 77—made it clear he was gratified that his assailant faced the maximum penalty. “I was pleased that he got the maximum available,” Rushdie commented, adding that he hoped Matar would use his time in prison to consider the consequences of his actions.
The attack, which took place at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York, shocked the global literary community. As Rushdie prepared to address an audience, Matar stormed the stage and inflicted multiple stab wounds on the author. In addition to losing his vision in one eye, Rushdie faced a lengthy recovery. Another individual on stage, who attempted to help, was also injured; for this, Matar was handed a separate seven-year sentence.
During his recent interview, Rushdie also reflected on the dramatic events and how they have affected his life and work. Notably, he discussed his collaboration with the late BBC producer Alan Yentob on a BBC Two special. The programme, produced in 2024, used innovative artificial intelligence technology to simulate a fictional conversation between Rushdie and his attacker, inspired by passages from Rushdie’s autobiography ‘Knife: Meditations After An Attempted Murder.’
Rushdie explained that while he had imagined a real encounter with Matar, he doubted such a meeting would yield much insight. “I wouldn’t get very much out of him. I doubt that he would open his heart to me,” he remarked frankly. Instead, Rushdie said he preferred to create the imagined dialogue himself, suggesting that fabricating such an exchange could be more revealing and powerful than reality.
The AI-generated representation was, according to Rushdie, both striking and provocative. “It certainly made a point,” he said, indicating that the technology added a dramatic emphasis to the depiction of such an emotionally charged confrontation.
The writer also took time to pay tribute to Alan Yentob, calling him an “unbelievable champion of the arts” with an innate ability to foster friendships and advance cultural causes. He credited Yentob with helping launch his early literary career, recalling a pre-Booker Prize television programme where actor Sir Ben Kingsley read from Rushdie’s now-famous ‘Midnight’s Children.’ Yentob’s influence, Rushdie suggested, left a lasting legacy on British arts broadcasting.
Rushdie further reminisced about lighter moments he shared with Yentob, including a playful parody of themselves on the BBC satire ‘W1A’. Turning to more serious matters, Rushdie openly defended Yentob against widely reported allegations surrounding the collapse of the Kids Company charity, stating Yentob and his fellow directors had been completely exonerated. Yentob’s extensive contributions to television, such as commissioning iconic shows like ‘Absolutely Fabulous’ and ‘Have I Got News For You,’ as well as launching children’s channels such as CBBC and CBeebies, have been widely recognised. He was awarded a CBE in 2024 for his services to the arts.
The attack on Rushdie was only the latest in a series of threats faced by the author, whose 1988 novel ‘The Satanic Verses’ unleashed a global controversy, leading to a notorious fatwa from Iran’s then-leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, in 1989.
While this chapter of violence and legal process concludes, Rushdie’s resilience, creative spirit, and ongoing contributions to literature and media continue to inspire audiences around the world.