Jeff Bezos’ fiancée, former news anchor Lauren Sánchez, has experienced the pros and cons of a much higher-profile lifestyle since she started dating the Amazon CEO in 2019. It’s a truth universally acknowledged, though, that if you get famous enough, you become fair game for Keith McNally, the raconteur New York City restauranteur known for his takedowns.
“Does anybody else find Jeff Bezos’ New wife - Lauren Sanchez - ABSOLUTELY REVOLTING?” McNally wrote on Instagram late Monday evening. (Sánchez and Bezos have announced their engagement, not a marriage.)
“What an ugly and Fucking SMUG - LOOKING couple they make,” McNally continued. “Is this what having 1000 Billion dollars does to people?”
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Celebrity influencer and model Chrissy Teigen, who herself has been the target of much online vitriol, took a second to comment to the contrary on McNally’s post.
“She’s actually incredibly dynamic, accomplished and kind, and everyone who knows her would say the same,” Teigen wrote. Ironically, what Teigen’s taken the most heat for in the past has been online bullying; specifically, the model allegedly told a then-teenage Courtney Stodden to kill herself.
But Teigen wasn’t the only Sánchez defender. Jessica Seinfeld, wife of comedian Jerry Seinfeld, took up the keyboard warrior mantle as well.
“This post is a reflection of your twisted, pitiful, and hideous mind,” Seinfeld commented. “Lauren has twice the character you do.” She went on to call McNally an “asshole” for bad-mouthing her editor in front of a room full of people at a dinner they both attended last month.
The Daily Beast reached out to McNally and asked if he was personally acquainted with Bezos or Sánchez but has not yet received a response.
McNally, as niche a celebrity as he may be, has proven that his opinion carries weight in the public sphere. A couple of years back, after the Balthazar owner announced that he had banned James Corden from his most famous bistro, his specific allegations even prompted the jovial late-night host to address the incident on air.
McNally, for his part, had written that Corden was “a tiny Cretin of a man” and “the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago.”
Whether the blowback hurts McNally’s bottom line remains to be seen. At Balthazar on Tuesday, the evening began with ample bar seating and open tables at the usually packed spot. But regulars scoffed at the idea that the slow night had anything to do with the Instagram comments.
“Maybe people weren’t coming because of the Palestine comment,” said a man who said he knew McNally personally. “But people definitely aren’t not coming because of a billionaire’s wife.”
Another woman who identified herself as a regular at the restaurant predicted it would be back to maximum capacity by the end of the night.
“He’s always posting things on Instagram,” she said. “He’s a rabble rouser. He posted about his vasectomy.”
Sure enough, customers were soon fighting for bar seats and the tables were nearly full by 6:45 p.m. The maitre’d said he could not speak on the matter, but gestured to the bustling dining room by way of comment.
“Take a look around,” he said.
