‘Perverse act of self-immolation’: Shashi Tharoor slams Washington Post after son Ishaan’s layoff

In a post on X, Tharoor questioned the rationale behind what he termed a “business decision”, pointing out the global reach and popularity of Ishaan’s work.

“The bizarre thing about this so-called ‘business decision’ by the @washingtonpost is that @ishaantharoor’s column flourished on the Internet, where he had 500,000 (half a million plus!) individual subscribers for his WorldView newsletter,” Tharoor wrote.

“I’ve met foreign ministers, diplomats and scholars around the world who read him daily. One could have forgiven The Post for trying to monetise that kind of reach, but to abolish it instead seems a perverse act of self-immolation,” he added.

Tharoor’s remarks came in response to a post by historian Andre Pagliarini, who described Ishaan Tharoor as among the best analysts of international affairs.

Ishaan Tharoor, a global affairs columnist with The Washington Post, confirmed his layoff, describing the development as “heartbreaking”.

“I have been laid off today from the @washingtonpost, along with most of the international staff and so many other wonderful colleagues. I’m heartbroken for our newsroom and especially for the peerless journalists who served the Post internationally — editors and correspondents who have been my friends and collaborators for almost 12 years,” he said.

“It’s been an honour to work with them. I launched the WorldView column in January 2017 to help readers better understand the world and America’s place in it, and I’m grateful for the half a million loyal subscribers who tuned in several times a week over the years,” he added.

Ishaan also posted the phrase “Democracy dies in darkness” on X, captioning it “A bad day”. The post was later shared by Shashi Tharoor.

In one of the largest rounds of job cuts in recent media history, The Washington Post on Wednesday laid off nearly one-third of its workforce.

The layoffs, expected to have wide-ranging implications for journalism, have affected the sports desk, several foreign bureaus and the publication’s book coverage.

Executive Editor Matt Murray described the decision as “painful” but necessary for the organisation to adapt to changing technology and audience habits.

“We can’t be everything to everyone,” Murray said, as quoted by The New Indian Express.

Over the past few weeks, several Post journalists had appealed to the newspaper’s owner Jeff Bezos to halt the layoffs, but he remained unresponsive.

In 2024, The Washington Post reportedly lost more than 200,000 subscribers after declining to endorse Democratic Party nominee Kamala Harris in the US presidential election.

According to The Guardian, the publication lost nearly 250,000 subscribers — around 10 per cent of its total subscriber base.

Apart from cancellations, several columnists also resigned in protest against the decision not to endorse Harris, who was running against Republican nominee Donald Trump after then President Joe Biden stepped down from the race.