A producer The New York Times’ podcast Caliphate has resigned as fallout over the show’s central character having allegedly fabricated his story. Andy Mills, who recently said his employment at the paper had not changed, was also a co-creator of The Daily.
In a statement posted to his website on Friday, Mills wrote of his exit: “Public shaming is very painful. That is the truth. So is leaving the job you love… I feel it is in the best interest of both myself and my team that I leave the company at this time.” And responding to concerns over his treatment of women, he wrote combatively, “My actual shortcomings and past mistakes were replaced with gross exaggerations and baseless claims.”
The Times’ executive editor Dean Baquet said in a letter to staff, “We want to let you know that Andy Mills has resigned from The New York Times… We want and need a culture in which any of us feels comfortable coming forward with complaints and concerns and can trust they will be examined fully and fairly.”
Last year, the Canadian government charged Caliphate’s central character, Shehroze Chaudhry, with pushing a terrorist hoax last year for fabricating his involvement with the Islamic State. In the aftermath of the charges, the Times investigated the podcast, retracted it, and returned awards it had won. The podcast’s host, Rukmini Callimachi, a star Times reporter covering terrorism, was recently reassigned to cover higher education as questions arose about her body of work.
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