New York Times retracts Caliphate podcast after finding main character’s story was hoax

The New York Times has been forced to retract parts of its award-winning podcast Caliphate, after establishing a featured story of a Canadian man who boasted about being an Islamic State executioner was a hoax.

The podcast was downloaded more than 25 million times and made a huge splash for The Times, winning the paper numerous awards, acclaim, and a host of new paying subscribers. 

However, questions were soon raised about the protagonist’s fantastical story of participating in executions and witnessing other atrocities in Syria before smuggling himself back to Canada undetected.

The paper announced in October that it would reexamine the 12-part series after Canadian police arrested Shehroze Chaudhry, who used the alias Abu Huzayfah, for lying about being involved with the terrorist group. 

The podcast led to a public backlash against the return of IS fighters and their families at the time it was released in 2018.

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