Saturday 13 August 2022 12:40 PM Salman Rushdie: Four-times married lothario who has wooed a string of ... trends now
Salman Rushdie, who was attacked Friday after decades of death threats, spent recent years basking in the social limelight as he wooed a string of younger women - despite being blasted by one of his four former wives as a spoilt baby who needed constant praise and 'frequent sex.'
The acclaimed novelist, 75, stirred controversy in his profession with his novel 'The Satanic Verses,' which drew death threats from Iran's leader in the 1980s and forced him into hiding.
But once he emerged from hiding years later, he received a wave attention for his turbulent love life.
Rushdie has been married and divorced four times and linked to a slew of other women in the years since.
Author Salman Rushdie was attacked as he was being introduced to the stage for the CHQ 2022 event on Friday in New York state
The short union between Rushdie and Lakshmi (right) ended badly, with both insulting each other in their respective memoirs
The attack happened at an event in Buffalo, New York, where people rushed to assist the author after he appeared to be punched and stabbed, with the motive currently unknown
FIRST WIFE: Clarissa Luard, 1976 to 1987
Rushdie's love life began with his first wife, Clarissa Luard, who he met at a pop concert in the United Kingdom in 1969.
Luard, who became senior literature officer at the Arts Council of England, married Rushdie in 1976, and the couple had son Zafar three years later.
Although they divorced in 1987, they remained close friends, and Rushdie reportedly stayed by her side when she died from breast cancer at age 50 in 1999.
Pictured: Rushdie's first wife, Clarissa Luard and son Zafar. The two were feared to have been kidnapped or killed following a wave of protests over Rushdie's writings
SECOND WIFE: Marianne Wiggins, 1988 to 1993
By the time Luard passed in 1999, Rushdie had already been married twice more. He tied the knot with American Pulitzer Prize finalist Marianne Wiggins in 1988, and then to editor Elizabeth West in 1997.
Rushdie was with Wiggins when he faced backlash over 'The Satanic Verses,' with Rushdie saying he heard criticisms that his 'Jewish wife' made him write it.
'At its most unpleasant it was leveled at me from the Islamic side that the Jews made me do it,' Rushdie said. 'They said my [second] wife was Jewish. She wasn't, she was American.'
Rushdie has previously said that he remembers his split from his wife Marianne as being a particularly traumatic time. She claimed that the CIA was aware of Rushdie's whereabouts and so his cover was blown. When he realized that she was lying he decided to end the relationship.
'It was very shocking. There simply was a point at which I had to choose whether to be alone in the middle of this hurricane with nobody there for companionship or whether I somehow had to put up with this person in whom it was difficult to have faith.
'It was horrifying to be told by a policeman that they believed that your wife was lying to you. It is an experience most of us don't have. And then for her to say that it was the police who were to be blamed and that I shouldn't trust them sets a kind of mindf*** and I had to make my judgments.
'It became impossible for me to have faith in her veracity. So in the end I thought it was better to separate.'
Wiggins spent some time in hiding even after the couple divorced in 1993.
Pictured: Rushdie with his second wife, Marianne Wiggins, who married him in 1988
Rushdie was with Wiggins when he faced backlash over 'The Satanic Verses'
Wiggins (left) remained in hiding even after she divorced Rushdie
THIRD WIFE: Elizabeth West - 1997 to 2004
Rushdie then married Elizabeth West in 1997, and the two had a son, Milan, in 1999.
Rushdie had previously said that he and West, an author and editor, began growing apart when he wanted to move to the United States and she wanted to stay in the UK and have another child.
Following a miscarriage, the couple officially split in 2004.
Rushdie has been married four times, including to Elizabeth West Salman, pictured. The couple married in 1994 and two had a son, Milan, in 1999
FOURTH WIFE: Padma Lakshmi - 2004 to 2007
Following the split from West, Rushdie immediately dove into the world of pop celebrities, marrying model turned Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi in 2004.
The two had met back in 1999 at a lavish New York City party thrown by media queen Tina Brown. Lakshmi alleges that the two began their affair during the party, and that Rushdie promised to be with her once his rocky marriage to West concluded.
Rushdie's 2001 novel, Fury, was dedicated to Lakshmi. At the time of the wedding, Lakshmi was 28, while Rushdie was 51.
While Rushdie's previous marriages lasted more than a decade, his union with
