Fired Stars and Stripes staffers sue Pentagon, allege retaliation and First Amendment violation

The three Stars and Stripes staffers who were fired last week over alleged insubordination have filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon over their terminations, alleging they are facing "imminent retaliation and termination in violation of their First Amendment and statutory rights."

"Defendants are attempting to fire Plaintiffs for speaking up as private citizens in support of the press’s freedom to cover military operations, its need to reach all servicepersons, and in retaliation for their publication of a news report on deteriorating conditions aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln during its extended tour of duty in the Mid-East," the lawsuit filed Thursday stated. "This action seeks to prevent the blatant violation of the First Amendment rights of these journalists and challenges the U.S. Department of Defense’s extraordinary censorship efforts in violation of both the First Amendment and DoD regulations and policies."

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., was brought by ousted Stars and Stripes editor-in-chief Erik Slavin, longtime publisher Max Lederer and Middle East reporter Lara Korte.

PENTAGON FIRES LONGTIME PUBLISHER, EDITOR, REPORTER FROM MILITARY NEWSPAPER STARS AND STRIPES

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 and Lederer's refusal to fire them at the direction of Pentagon leadership.

According to the lawsuit, the trio allege Pentagon leadership "understood these interview statements expressed personal opinions, and therefore took no immediate action, despite their displeasure" and that it wasn't until Stars and Stripes published its report on the alleged strife aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln that the Pentagon's stance had shifted.

The lawsuit notes that Pentagon leadership demanded Lederer to fire Slavin and Korte just one day after the report was published.

PENTAGON OFFICIALS MULLING THE FIRING OF MILITARY NEWSPAPER STARS AND STRIPES PUBLISHER

Listed as the defendants in the lawsuit are The Pentagon, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell and his principal deputy assistant Andrew Brey.

"Our goal is to protect the rights of service members and their families to a free and independent press," Slavin, Lederer and Korte said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "Stars and Stripes has served them for generations, and that independence is essential to keeping military communities fully and accurately informed."

"This lawsuit is about safeguarding that mission and ensuring our civilian and military journalists can do their jobs without retaliation," they added.

PENTAGON VOWS TO REFORM MILITARY NEWSPAPER STARS AND STRIPES, REMOVE 'WOKE DISTRACTIONS'

A Pentagon spokesman declined to comment.

The Pentagon kicked off 2026 by announcing its overhaul of the long-running newspaper.

"The Department of War is returning Stars & Stripes to its original mission: reporting for our warfighters," Parnell posted on X in January. "We are bringing Stars & Stripes into the 21st century. We will modernize its operations, refocus its content away from woke distractions that syphon morale, and adapt it to serve a new generation of service members.

"Stars & Stripes will be custom tailored to our warfighters. It will focus on warfighting, weapons systems, fitness, lethality, survivability, and ALL THINGS MILITARY," the statement continued. "No more repurposed DC gossip columns; no more Associated Press reprints. Stars & Stripes has a proud legacy of reporting news that’s important to our service members. The Department of War is committed to ensuring the outlet continues to reflect that proud legacy."

The Pentagon previously fired the Stars and Stripes ombudsman in April after being an outspoken critic of the Trump administration's oversight of the paper.