Keith McNally was accused of libel after wrongly suggesting a creative director skipped out on his check.

The legendary restaurateur posted a picture on Instagram of Marcus Teo, who works with luxury lifestyle brands, with the caption, “Lucky Strike in happier days. The nice looking gentleman in the photo ran out on his $100 cheque. The f–king bastard.”

This was news to Teo, who told Page Six, “I woke up to friends texting me … saying, ‘What the f - - k! Why did you run out on Keith McNally?’ I don’t know him. He took the photo off of my [Instagram] page.”

Jeepney restaurant founder Nicole Ponseca even chimed in on the post and asked, “What’s the grounds for slander or libel?”

Teo posted his receipt from his February visit to the restaurant to prove that he’d paid, while those who dined with him disputed McNally on Instagram. McNally finally apologized for what he said was a “joke” and edited the caption to read, “The nice looking gentleman in the photo tipped $100 and had the servers swooning all over him.”

This month, McNally announced he was closing Lucky Strike permanently due to “greedy landlord during lockdown syndrome.”