Fired Stars and Stripes staffers sue Pentagon over terminations
Three former Stars and Stripes journalists have filed a federal lawsuit against the Pentagon, alleging their firings were retaliation for protected speech and a violation of their First Amendment rights.
Three journalists fired from the military newspaper Stars and Stripes have filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon, alleging their terminations were an act of retaliation that violated their First Amendment rights. The suit, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., names the Pentagon, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell, and his principal deputy assistant Andrew Brey as defendants.
The plaintiffs are Erik Slavin, the paper's ousted editor-in-chief; Max Lederer, its longtime publisher; and Middle East reporter Lara Korte. According to the complaint, Pentagon leadership attempted to fire the journalists for speaking out as private citizens in support of press freedom and for publishing a news report about deteriorating conditions aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln during its extended tour of duty in the Middle East. The lawsuit describes the Pentagon's actions as "extraordinary censorship efforts" that violate both the First Amendment and Department of Defense regulations.
The firings stem from Slavin and Korte's unauthorized participation in a "CBS Sunday Morning" segment that aired last month about the Pentagon's efforts to overhaul the paper. The lawsuit alleges that Pentagon leadership understood the interview statements expressed personal opinions and took no immediate action at the time. However, the stance shifted just one day after Stars and Stripes published its report on the alleged strife aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, when Pentagon leadership demanded that Lederer fire Slavin and Korte. Lederer refused, and all three were subsequently terminated.
In a statement, the three journalists said their goal is to protect the rights of service members and their families to a free and independent press. "Stars and Stripes has served them for generations, and that independence is essential to keeping military communities fully and accurately informed," they said. "This lawsuit is about safeguarding that mission and ensuring our civilian and military journalists can do their jobs without retaliation."
A Pentagon spokesman declined to comment on the pending litigation. The lawsuit comes after the Pentagon announced a major overhaul of the long-running newspaper at the start of 2026. In a January post on X, Parnell said the Department of War is returning Stars and Stripes to its original mission of reporting for warfighters. He pledged to modernize its operations and refocus its content away from what he called "woke distractions," emphasizing coverage of warfighting, weapons systems, fitness, lethality, and survivability. The statement also said the outlet would no longer repurpose Washington gossip columns or reprint Associated Press stories.
The lawsuit also follows the Pentagon's firing of the Stars and Stripes ombudsman in April, who had been an outspoken critic of the administration's oversight of the paper. The plaintiffs argue that the recent terminations are part of a broader pattern of retaliation against journalists who challenge Pentagon leadership. They are seeking to prevent what they describe as a blatant violation of their constitutional rights and to challenge the Defense Department's censorship efforts in court.
