Days After Keith McNally Called Lauren Sánchez ‘Revolting,’ He Had a Rodent Problem in His Restaurant…
Over the weekend, McNally claimed that rodents were purposefully let loose in his restaurant in response to his recent Instagram about Lauren Sánchez.
Photos: Shutterstock Dirt Bag
Last week, the man behind Pastis, Minetta Tavern, Morandi, Balthazar, and some occasionally funny social media trolling, used his Instagram to do what he does best. No, not to review two-year-old films or laud Taylor Swift lyrics. But to insult the appearance of none other than Alive Girl herself, Lauren Sánchez. In case you missed it, Keith McNally—completely unprompted—called Jeff Bezos’ fiancée, “ABSOLUTELY REVOLTING” in a rambling caption (that’s since been changed) on a photo carousel of the couple. Now, McNally is back in the headlines and he’s—once again—bringing Sánchez with him.
Over the weekend, a New York City socialite, Michelle Manning Barish, posted a video of a rodent running around the bar at Balthazar. Barish captioned the video: “Rats found in Balthazar NYC in the dining room tonight… can’t imagine what the kitchen is like. Absolutely ‘REVOLTING.’ Like a scene from ‘Ratatouille.’”
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You catch the “revolting” call back? Well, so did McNally and he had a rather weird explanation for Page Six. According to McNally, a “suspicious man of about 40” entered the bistro with a bag and, after just one drink, “suddenly left very quickly.” The bag, however, was left—upturned—and five white domesticated mice “ran out from” it.
“One of the bartenders who noticed the whole episode ran after the man, but failed to catch him,” McNally told the tabloid. “The five white mice were quickly caught.” Then, he directly named Barish.
“A woman called Michelle Manning Barish seemed to have knowledge that the incident was about to happen because she was standing suspiciously close to where the incident happened with her iPhone ready to take photos…” McNally added. “She immediately posted one of the photos on Instagram and DM’d me a photo of a white mouse.”
Notably, the rodent in the video is…definitely not white and appears…more like a rat. Granted, I’m no rat czar but I do have eyes. Even weirder still? Barish has since turned the comments off on the post, though Page Six reported that sometime before then, Jewel commented “Karma for bullying,” as did What Not To Wear‘s Stacey Bendet who wrote: “This is #karma.” Sick burns, guys!
Of course, McNally addressed the back-and-forth via his own Instagram post. On Sunday, he once again asserted that a man of about 35 left a paper bag of six domesticated white mice in the bar and that the entire incident was caught on camera. As for Barish, McNally claimed that she’d been in the bar within 10 minutes of the rodents’ release and that she’d previously written that he was “vocally antisemitic,” “a defender of sexual predators,” and bemoaned that he was a “cyber bully” to Sánchez on Instagram.
“I wonder if Manning Barish orchestrated this vile stunt or was at least a party to it? Police are now investigating the incident,” McNally captioned his post. “I believe this attempt to have my restaurant closed by the health department is a result of an instagram I posted a few days ago. (So much for Freedom of Speech.)”
I really must ask (again): Do all these rich people have nothing better to do with their time?
- Nicola Peltz-Beckham only skipped her mother-in-law’s 50th birthday (and a Spice Girls reunion) for her “Naunni,” OK?! [Page Six]
- Sounds like Ryan “Dick is fire” Anderson is officially off the Gypsy Rose Blanchard Lifetime show. [TMZ]
- The Halloweentown couple got married! [Entertainment Tonight]
- Tough times for the Middleton family, eh? [Hello!]