BREAKING: Author Salman Rushdie Stabbed on Stage During Event in New York [VIDEO]

Author Salman Rushdie has been seriously injured after he was stabbed on stage as he was gearing up to give a speech at an event in upstate New York on Friday morning. The renowned novelist was on stage at the Chautauqua Institution when he was suddenly attacked, video from the event shows.

Rushdie, 75, was attending the event for a debate on the United States as an asylum for creative expression and as a haven for writers and other artists in exile. He was stabbed just when he was about to begin his lecture.

Sudden Attack

A video from the scene shows the attacker stabbing Rushdie, as he collapsed on stage. Organizers of the event were seen rushing to the author’s help. As Rushdie was being introduced, a guy reportedly stormed the stage at the Chautauqua Institution and started hitting or stabbing Rushdie, according to reports from an Associated Press reporter.

He reportedly managed to leave the stage with the help of witnesses, and the attacker has supposedly been arrested.

The wall behind the area where Rushdie had been attacked appeared to be covered in blood, and some also visible on a chair.

Rushdie courted controversy with his award-winning book “The Satanic Verses”. Iran has banned him in 1988 as several Muslims view the book as disrespectful. In 1989, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the late president of Iran, called for Rushdie’s execution in a fatwa, or edict.

This is a developing story.