Salman Rushdie subpoenaed for memoir materials by alleged attacker

Author Salman Rushdie was subpoenaed on Feb. 26, 2024, in connection with the criminal case against a man charged with assaulting him during a public lecture in Chautauqua, New York, in 2022. The subpoena — which sought his notes, communications and contracts for a memoir about the incident — was quashed five months later, according to court records reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.

Rushdie was about to begin speaking at a literary festival on Aug. 12, 2022, when a man rushed the stage and stabbed the author multiple times. The man, later identified as Hadi Matar of New Jersey, was subsequently charged with attempted murder and assault, as well as terrorism-related offenses.

In February 2024, Matar’s attorney subpoenaed Rushdie, seeking all drafts, writings and communications concerning his planned memoir about the attack, “Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder,” which was later published in April.

Penguin Random House, the publisher of the book, was issued a nearly identical subpoena Feb. 8, according to court records.

After filing an initial objection March 4, attorneys representing Rushdie filed a joint motion with counsel for Penguin Random House to quash the subpoenas. The April 15 motion argued, in part, that they were protected from disclosing the materials by both New York’s reporter shield law and the First Amendment.

The subpoenas include “sprawling requests for editorial material,” according to the motion, and “constitute nothing more than an overbroad fishing expedition” for material to harm Rushdie’s credibility.

“These are all highly personal documents concerning the editorial process that would ordinarily never be made public or even privately shared with third parties,” Rushdie wrote in an affidavit supporting the motion. “To have these unpublished materials—or indeed, any of my private documents—become fodder for the Defendant (or his counsel) to sift through would be an extraordinary invasion of my privacy and sense of security.”

County Court Judge David Foley quashed both subpoenas following a hearing on July 18, according to court filings. In addition to ruling that the subpoenas were “overbroad and unreasonably burdensome,” Foley also affirmed that Rushdie and Penguin Random House, as well as the memoir, are protected under the shield law.

Matar’s trial was scheduled to begin Oct. 15, but was delayed to allow a state appeals court to consider whether to move the case out of Chautauqua County, The New York Times reported. Rushdie is expected to testify when the trial moves forward.