Salman Rushdie v Imran Khan: it's war

Celebrity spats are often inflated, even invented, by their publicists in the hope of pushing "the brand". But every now and again a ding-dong develops that appears to be laced with genuine rage and contempt. Salman Rushdie and Imran Khan – two men you might think to be above such trifles – are apparently locked in hostilities. Early this month, the cricketer turned Pakistani politician pulled out of a shared speaking date with the novelist in New Delhi because of the "immeasurable hurt" Rushdie had caused Muslims with the publication of The Satanic Verses in the 1988. Rushdie hit back , asking the audience if they "noticed a physical resemblance between Imran Khan and Gaddafi". He added: "When he was a playboy in London, the most common nickname for him was 'Im the Dim'." Claim and counter-claim continued on Twitter – Khan calling Rushie "unbalanced"; Rushdie calling Khan a "liar" for claiming they had never met – with Khan adding in an interview on Pakistani TV that Rushdie had a "mindset of a small man". He signed off the interview saying: "I never want to meet him." It would seem he will get his wish.