Times to Mayor of Paris: Whoops!

The New York Times has apologized to the mayor of Paris for publishing a letter purportedly from him that was actually a hoax. The paper didn't confirm the origins of the letter, which described Caroline Kennedy's bid for Hillary Clinton's Senate seat as "both surprising and appalling," and it "should never have been printed," an editors' note posted this afternoon on the Times website said.

"We have asked the New York Times for a denial and an apology," a rep for Mayor Bertrand Delanoe told the AP. The editors' note said the paper has "already expressed our regrets to Mr. Delanoe's office and we are now doing the same to you, our readers." The letter's style raised suspicions with a staffer at the French-language publication France-Amerique, which broke the story on its website. (More New York Times stories.)