Renowned novelist Sir Salman Rushdie has backed out of a college commencement speech at the eleventh hour amid intensifying backlash over “troubling statements.”
Claremont McKenna College President Hiram Chodosh wrote in a campus-wide email Tuesday that Rushdie, 77, had decided to withdraw as graduation keynote speaker for its May 17 ceremony, the Daily Bulletin reported.
“This decision was his alone and completely beyond our control,” Chodosh wrote. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to Sir Salman’s visit to CMC and have extended an open invitation to him to speak on our campus in the future.”
The cancellation came as student and local Muslim advocacy groups called the author’s presence “disrespectful” after he said pro-Palestinian protests across college campuses were akin to supporting “a fascist terrorist group,” The Guardian reported last year.
“I’m surprised, relieved and happy,” Claremont Colleges Muslim Students Association president Kumail Afshar said about Rushdie’s decision.
Rushdie, an Indian-born British and American atheist, was forced into hiding by the outrage over his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses, in which he suggests Islam’s Prophet Muhammad may have entertained polytheism.
Iran’s former spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa against Rushdie in response, with a $3 million reward for his life. Dozens have been killed in connection with protests over the book, and the book’s Japanese translator was murdered, the BBC reported.
In 2022, Rushdie was blinded in one eye after being stabbed more than 12 times while on stage during a talk at Chautauqua Institution in New York. His attacker, Hadi Matar, was found guilty of attempted murder in the second degree and will be sentenced this week, The Guardian reported.
Rushdie’s 2024 autobiographical memoir, Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder, details the near-death experience and his resulting injuries.
In the aftermath of the attack, Rushdie has been selective about where he speaks, frequently canceling appearances amid ongoing death threats.
Leading up to the commencement, the Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations had called on Claremont McKenna College to address its students’ concerns over Rushdie’s “troubling statements about Islam and Palestine.”
“CMC cannot claim to value diversity and inclusion while dismissing the voices of its students,” they wrote in a statement. “We strongly urge CMC leadership to address the sincere concerns raised by the MSA about the decision to host Salman Rushdie, engage with them in good faith, and ensure that the campus remains an environment where students feel heard, respected, and valued.”