Shashi Tharoor’s Son Ishaan Tharoor Dismissed By Washington Post In Major Layoffs
Ishaan Tharoor, a senior foreign affairs columnist at The Washington Post and son of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, is among hundreds of employees laid off by the US newspaper as part of a major restructuring exercise.
The Washington Post announced what it called a “significant restructuring”, which includes shutting down its Sports Desk and sharply reducing its international coverage.
Reports suggest that nearly 300 employees, or about a third of the organisation’s workforce, have been affected.
Ishaan Tharoor confirmed his layoff in a post on X on Wednesday. He said he was deeply saddened by the decision.
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…
— Ishaan Tharoor (@ishaantharoor) February 4, 2026
“I have been laid off today from the Washington Post, along with most of the International staff and so many other wonderful colleagues,” he wrote.
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Calling it a painful moment, Tharoor said he was “heartbroken for our newsroom” and paid tribute to the editors and correspondents he worked with for nearly 12 years.
“It’s been an honour to work with them,” he added.
In a separate post, Tharoor described the development as “a bad day”, sharing a photograph of an empty newsroom.
He also reflected on launching the WorldView column in 2017. Ishaan Tharoor said it had been an honour to help readers understand global affairs and thanked the column’s nearly half a million subscribers.
Several other senior journalists and foreign correspondents also confirmed their exits on social media.
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Investigative sports reporter Will Hobson said he was laid off after an 11-year stint at the paper. Jerusalem bureau chief Gerry Shih said much of the Middle East team and international staff across regions had been let go.
Cairo bureau chief Claire Parker said the entire Middle East roster was affected, calling the decision difficult to understand.
Other journalists impacted include Visual Forensics staffer Nilo Tabrizy, Ukraine correspondent Lizzie Johnson, and Berlin bureau chief Aaron Wiener, who said the Post had shut down its Berlin bureau.
