Times of London Admits Being Misled by Impersonator of Former NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio

The Times of London has issued an apology after publishing an article based on fabricated comments from someone posing as former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. The newspaper confirmed that it had been deceived by an impersonator pretending to be the ex-mayor.

In a statement released Wednesday, the publication said it had retracted the piece and acknowledged that “our reporter was misled by an individual falsely claiming to represent Mr. de Blasio.” The article, which ran just days before the upcoming New York mayoral election, had quoted the former mayor criticizing Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani.

The report rapidly gained attention online, as de Blasio has long been an ally of Mamdani’s campaign. The former mayor took to X (formerly Twitter) to denounce the article, calling it “completely false and invented.” He stated, “I never gave that interview and never made those remarks.”

Under the original headline, “Zohran Mamdani Ally Bill de Blasio Says His Policies Don’t Add Up,” the story claimed that de Blasio had reversed his stance on Mamdani’s progressive agenda — which includes proposals such as free public transit, universal child care, and rent freezes for stabilized apartments.

In reality, de Blasio reaffirmed his support for Mamdani, describing his policy platform as “necessary and achievable.”

The Times did not provide details on how the fraudulent interview was arranged, nor did it respond to further inquiries about the incident. The reporter involved has not publicly commented on the matter.